Howl
by RaggedyMadMan
Summary: Lady Samantha is a knight from the North. Lady Caterina is a betrothed Princess from the West. War is approaching. Alliances must be made and enemies must be destroyed. But even victory has its price. Medieval!Puckentine AU. Vaguely based on Game of Thrones.
1. Season 1 - Episode 1

**Disclamer**: I don't own Sam&Cat. Dan Schneider does.

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**Season 1 - Episode 1**

**Howl**

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"It is a fine match, my dear. I'm certain Lord Robert will be delighted with your lovely self"

"He better be. I hope you realize that if this does not work out our kingdom will be doomed, Caterina"

"I am, mother. There is no day that goes by without having you reminding me those exact words"

"There is nothing to be afraid of, my beloved Queen. The Northern Kingdom needs our supplies, which we have in abundance. And we need the loyalty of their army. A perfect exchange that not even they would want to ruin. I'm sure the Prince is also under a lot of pressure"

"Which translates into, «It will all work out even if Cat screws things up...again»," A young lad said, emerging from the back of the smallest throne in the room.

"Terryn," The oldest woman reprimanded, "Straight up your clothes and take a sit. Our guests will arrive soon"

The nine year old Prince groaned at the order of his mother but did as he was told, taking his place on the smallest golden throne reluctantly. The redheaded Princess eyed him, a victorious smirk rapidly growing on her delicate features. The dark haired lad stuck his tongue out in a childish response, for which he was met with another stern look from his mother's part.

The giant, elegant room was starting to fill with other royals and commander officers, people with denoted titles and heroes of past wars. Each and every single one of them made their way to the throne as soon as they entered and paid their respect to their monarchs.

The Princess was bored to say the least, and even if she was prepared from a very young age to perform her duty as a regal, she could not prevent herself from being the fourteen year old she truly was, "They are surely taking their time," Cat spoke in a sarcastic, not very lady-like manner.

Putting the Queen's outraged aside, her father -King Edmund- brushed the comment off with a strong laugh and a soft pat on her daughter's hand, "The Northerners are not well known for their punctuality, my dear. But we are, for our patient and understanding nature"

Just as the Princess was about to retort the doors flew open, and one regal man stepped inside, followed close by six others wearing white, shiny armour that fit them all just perfectly, making their companions look almost like Princes themselves. Their faces could not be seen however, only the tall, curly haired boy's countenance visible for all to see.

"His majesty, Robert, of the Shapiro House, Lord of Winterfell and Prince of the of the North"

"Quite a long name," Robert's closest companion muttered only to be heard by his fellow escort.

"Thank you, sir," The Prince said before walking down the hall, in the middle of lots of expecting eyes set on him, which did nothing to serenade his already growing nervousness and fear. Not looking where he was going the boy almost missed a step and tripped with his own entangled feet, but his companions were by his side almost immediately, taking him by the arms and back, preventing him from making a fool out of himself yet again.

A few chuckles were heard among the crowd but the piercing from the King's part silenced the multitude, "Please, forgive my impertinent subjects. We do not entertain much"

"That is alright, your grace. I'm used to it by now," Robert said sheepishly looking at the royal. With a few more shy toddles taken the Prince and his entourage reached the steps of the Throne, "Your majesties," The Prince spoke, bowing his head in acknowledgment, his companions copying the boy's actions.

"Prince Robert. I kindly welcome you to our Westernlands. I expect your long journey didn't wear you all out. And if that is the case I will put my best servants and rooms at your service"

"We are a bit tired indeed, your grace. I appreciate your considerate gesture a lot and thank you in the name of my companions"

"Won't you introduce us to your entourage, young Prince?," Princess Caterina spoke, an adamant look addressed at the Prince, "It is the least you can do after you kept us all waiting for your late presence"

"Caterina, behave yourself," The queen whispered in a grumble, swiftly composing herself and directing her words to the fearful Prince, "Excuse my daughter, Prince Robert. She did not mean what was said"

"We the Northerners are very well known four our-

"For your unpunctuality, yes, I am aware, My Lord. But I do not think that is something to take pride on"

"Daughter, please"

At the soft, pleading words of her father the Princess finally decided to stop arguing with the Prince who seemed to be yearning a way to turn into a dragon and fly away from the room. His faithful companions were trying real hard not to snicker behind his back to no avail.

"He always gets the crazy ones," One of the murmured.

"Y-Yes, you are right, My Lady. And I apologize for our late arrival; I assure you it will not happen again"

"I am content to know so, My Lord. Now, if you may," The Princess prompted, gesturing his fellow comrades standing behind him.

"Oh, of c-course, Princess. These are the Brooks brothers. The eldest son, Ser Beau Brooks, future Lord Commander. And the twins, squires at the moment, Ser Jai Brooks and Ser Luke Brooks, sons of Lady Gina Brooks, all three with pure Northern blood running in their veins, your grace"

"Your majesties," The brothers took their helmets off and showed their resemblance, stepping to the front and bowing their heads in regard.

"Aren't you twin boys the bastard sons of Edward Brooks?" The Queen enquired.

"That is true, My Lady," Jai replied in all honesty.

"We have learned our ways. The world has never treated us equally, my lady, but yet here we are, as our majesty's personal squires"

"That is very generous from your part, Prince Robert," The monarch spoke.

"We have been very close since we were little, my lady. I see no difference between their eldest brothers and themselves, and neither does my father"

"You are all very kind and just," Caterina smiled, making a crimson deep blush spread all over the Prince's face.

"I'm still here," The only soldier left with a helmet on grunted. Robert was distracted from the butterflies flying around in his insides and gestured for his companion to step to the front.

"My apologies, your majesties. May I present to you, one of our most honourable knights, the future hand of the king and one of our commanding officers, Lady Samantha Puckett"

The soldier removed her helmet and golden locks fell down, cascading their way out of their imprisonment and collapsing elegantly on the woman's strong shoulders, guarded safely by a strong armour.

"Your majesties," Lady Samantha said, imitating the brother's actions from just moments before.

The royals were agape at the revelation, and the Queen was the first one to speak, "Oh my. Young bastards as squires and a woman as a knight and war chief. Your land is quite unique, Lord Robert"

"We take pride in it, my lady"

"Are you from royal, Winterfell ascendance as well, Lady Samantha?" Princess Caterina addressed herself to the knight still standing proudly at the steps of the throne.

"I am indeed, My Lady. Just as my fellow comrades I happen to share my blood and appearance with Lady Melanie Puckett, my twin sister"

"Lady Melanie is your twin sister?," The Queen asked in disbelief.

"Yes, she is, my lady"

"I knew I'd heard your surname somewhere, Lady Samantha," The King pointed out.

"Yes, your grace, my sister is very popular around in Westeros. Even our enemies have nothing hateful to say about her"

"I never imagined you two being sisters, Lady Samantha," Caterina commented, "You two are just so-

"Different," The blonde finished the Princess sentence, smirking knowingly at the royal which made the redhead's insides flutter quirkily. No more words were uttered from the Princess part, "I know, my lady. My sister is a very gentle, charitable, and generous person. I have nothing but respect and love for her, and I wish nothing more but to reencounter with her soon"

"And we will all be praying to the new-gods for your early reunion, Lady Samantha," The King spoke, driving his attention from the lady-knight to the Prince, who was still standing timidly in front of them, "Now my boy, I think we all know we you are here. You are my daughter have been betrothed, and your wedding will take place right here, in the Westernlands, and then you'll travel back to the Northern lands and live in your castle, inside your strong walls"

"Y-yes, your grace, I understand"

"I posses the full knowledge that this matter only concerns both your father, King Walters, and I. But as you may already know, Prince Robert, sometimes not even Kings can resist the clever ways of women. My daughter requested to spend some days in your company, with the intention of getting to acquaint herself with you a lot better. And I thank you greatly for understanding her position and carrying out a tedious voyage in such short notice"

"There is nothing to be thankful for, your grace. I am glad Princess Caterine gathered to courage to request for something I also believed necessary. It will be an honour to share time with the Princess"

"You speak like a true Prince, my boy. Your father has taught you well"

"Thank you, my lord. I will make sure to let him know"

"Perfect. Now, I am sure you just want to get some sleep and relax. Fra," The King gestured to one of his servants, "Take them to our best chambers, separate ones. Give them whatever they ask for and put three servants at their command. I will see you all tomorrow at noon"

"Your grace," They all bowed before exiting the room.

Princess Caterina didn't take her attention off Lady Samantha, not even after they were gone.

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**A/N: **Yes, yes, I know. I'm a despicable human being. I start writing new stories when I haven't even finished with the others. But I just needed to write this. I'm barely starting to watch Game of Thrones, I'm still on season two, so if I made any mistake I apologize.

Also, guys. I really need you to pick one story. I'm extremely busy with University, I highly doubt I'd be able to keep up with three stories. So I need to decide between continuing this one or the Decision Ballad. So, let me know which one you'd like to read more of.


	2. Season 1 - Episode 2

**Disclamer: I don't own Sam&Cat**

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**Howl**

_By RaggedyMadMan_

Season 1 - Episode 2

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"I thought we were told we were going to get our own chambers," Lady Samantha mumbled under her breath, unpacking her belongings and dumping them unceremoniously on the floor, not bothering on even doing so on the bed. The twins looked back at her in amusement while their older brother spoke.

"You were. How could you not? You are Rob's personal knight. One of the most important people in the North at the moment"

"Don't compare myself to the King, Beau. I am not as important as he is"

"I never said you were"

"You need to calm down a bit, Sam," The eldest twin said, embracing her by the shoulders in complete confidence, "We are not in the North anymore. We should have a little fun"

"I am not going to get go drunk with you lot. The gods know what happened the last time I did"

"It was just a little fire," Luke clarified.

"We burned the whole place down"

"We are not going to burn the whole place down this time...well, maybe just half of it," The youngest Brooks added.

The brothers chuckle at the memory of their first night out as official members of the King's army, but Sam shook the twin's hand off her shoulders and threw herself on the bed, face first. The boys eyed her suspiciously, Beau being the one to start the interrogation off.

"Sam?"

"What?"

"What's going on with you?"

"'Othing 's 'oing 'n we' me," She replied, most of the response being muffled by the soft mattress underneath her.

"Turn around; I didn't understand shit of what you just said"

"I said nothing is going on with me!" The girl repeated herself, half-yelling it back.

Jai decided to join the questioning session, "Yes, there is. You were so excited to finally arrive to the Westernlands. And now you're acting like this all of the sudden"

"Are you on your period again?" Luke enquired, earning a deathly glare from Sam's part that made him go silent at once.

Beau's face lit up all the sudden, and started shaking and accusatory finger at his friend, "You're jealous"

"You have got to be kidding me right now"

"I know you are! We grew up together, Sam. I've seen you at your best and at your worse. And your jealousy is definitely your worse"

"You don't know shit, Beau"

"Is it Robbie? We always thought you had a crush on him," Jai asked. The indignant look on Sam's face was everything he needed as a response. Even so, she defended herself, wanting to leave that case closed and forgotten.

"I am not in love with Robbie and I never was. The boy tripped on a flower once, for fuck's sake"

"Well, you and he always spent a lot of time together. Even more than you ever did with Beau"

"My father trained me to be a knight, Robbie's protector by oath, since I was thirteen. Of course I had to spend a lot of time with him. How was I supposed to guard him if I was continuously hanging out with you blokes?"

"And yet here you are, sharing a room with us instead of taking that chamber next to Robbie's"

Silence invaded the room and the only thing Beau could do was shooting a victorious smile in Sam's direction. The blonde opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, debating her words carefully inside her head, but her best friend's winning smirk wouldn't let her think clearly.

The oldest boy's smirk disappeared when a soft pillow collide with his face, his brothers snickering hysterically at his surprised expression. Sam gave him the finger and a slight smile before sliding into the sheets and closing her eyes, drifting away into darkness.

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Breakfast was served at early hours in the morning, a time the brothers were not accustomed to. It was barely seven in the morning, and while the Western royals seemed awake and bright, smiling and chatting cheerfully, the friends of the North, including the Prince himself, were fighting the urge of climbing onto the table and close the eyes until nine or ten in the morning.

Sam was nodding off, her face almost falling flat on her plate still full of food. Luke grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back up. The action startled her, but it was still not enough to make her wake up entirely.

The royal family was blind at the precarious situation of their guests, but the Princess seemed to realize something wasn't right when she saw the blonde knight almost clashing into her fresh fruit. The redhead decided to take action. She certainly could not ask her father to let them go back to sleep, the guests held their pride and would deny the offer anyway, they didn't want to offend the King in any sort of way. So she did what came to mind, something that would allow them to take awareness of their surroundings at least for a bit.

"Excuse me, father. May I please accompany our guests to the garden? I'm sure you've heard of it, dear Robert, it is known for its enormous size and flawless variety of roses and such"

The Prince had already fallen asleep, his head slipping slowly off his pale hand. Luke nudge him in the ribs, making the curly-haired boy jumped immediately out of his sleep and join the conversation he supposed his bride-to-be was holding, "Yes, yes, of course, m'lady. Anything you want"

"It is settled then," Cat smiled, "Come with me, the sun's bright and the breeze is gentle. The perfect day to visit to garden"

"Dear Caterina," The King spoke tenderly, "Don't you think you should wait until our guests are done eating their breakfast?"

"I'm done, your grace!" Beau said from across the table, some bits of food still hanging from his lips and chin.

The twins followed, speaking at the same time, "So are we"

"Perfect," The redhead's smile grew bigger and got up from her chair, gesturing the boys and Lady Samantha to follow her out the door. They did as they were told, bowing rapidly before almost stepping on the Princess heels.

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"Thank you for saving us back there, my lady," Beau said.

Cat turned around, flashing him a sincere smile, "It was no trouble, Sir Beau. I know how hard it must be for travellers to adjust to our schedules. They come out as quite odd to most people"

"Yet interesting," The eldest son concluded.

They had been walking around in the garden for about an hour then. The boys and Lady Samantha were starting to gain back full consciousness of the world again and the Princess could not be more satisfied with her accomplished mission. She was walking right next to Robbie, showing him around. Not many words had been exchanged between the betrothed couple, only quick glances and nervous smiles, mostly by the Prince's part.

Sir Beau and Lady Samantha were behind them, just a few steps away to give them some decent privacy. Not that it was much needed, for what they could observe. They had their armours on, but the heat in the Westernlands was making them incredibly uncomfortable. Back in the North there was nothing comparable to that kind of heat, and even though the Princess could be seen walking around, looking as fresh as if she had just stepped out of the tub, their bodies were melting underneath the hot gold and steel.

Sam could not stop fidgeting with her collar, and it was making Beau a bit annoyed. He knew better than to tell Sam to stop doing something though. No one ordered Sam around. No one except for the King or any high born, or in any position higher than hers.

But the thing was, Lady Samantha was indeed the most important person right after the King and the Prince, even if she did not want to admit it. So basically, no one could order Sam around.

The Twins had run off, making the purpose of their day to climb a high tree a few meters behind. They'd lost them from sight, but Beau knew his brothers. They were going to be okay as long as they were together.

"This fucking armour is burning me alive"

"I don't think it's the armour, Sam. The sun might have something to do with it, though"

"Even in other lands you are a know-it-all pain in the ass"

"But I'm _your _know-it-all pain in the ass. Excuse me, My Lady. My Prince. May you excuse us for a moment? I'm afraid we are as used to this heat as we are to waking up real early in the morning. It would be a great relief if we could change into something less heavy and, well, not made of steel"

"Of course, Sir Beau," Cat replied, turning back to face the two soldiers who looked nothing but miserable, "I do not understand why you even put them on. We are not under attack"

"It represents our accomplishments, my lady," Sam joined the conversation, trying to ignore her boiling flesh underneath the heavy armour, "And our accomplishments make us who we are. By wearing this we represent ourselves to the world, and we take pride on it"

"A fair answer from a fair Lady"

"She doesn't like being called 'Lady'," The Prince said, finally joining the conversation. The blonde glared at her friend who withdrew a few steps away from her. He hadn't meant to tell that, the boy was just trying to participate.

"Is that so?"

"It is, My Lady"

"I'm curious now"

"Isn't that just great then"

"I detect some sarcasm in your words"

"I do apologize, Princess. Sarcasm was the only language a spoke for a while; it takes a while to go away. Sometimes I speak without thinking about my words"

"As do I"

The blonde appeared to have forgotten everything about his burning flesh and bones, lost into the conversation with the redheaded Princess. It wasn't until Beau stepped in-between them that she realized she was probably going to end up with some burning marks on her body.

"We will be right back, my lady. My Prince," Sir Beau bowed slightly before walking away, throwing his arm around Sam's shoulders like he'd done the night before. Once they were out of sight, the Princess dared to ask.

"Is there something going on between those two?"

"I would not really define it as a _thing_, to be honest. Their fathers were really close friends before Sam's father died just a couple of years ago. Sam's father was the hand of the King, just like Sam will be one day when I become King, and Beau's father was the captain of the Guard, just like Beau will be one day when I become King. Since they befriended each other way long before they were born they made a promise, a silly drunken promise in my opinion"

"I thought the Captain of the Guard was not allowed to get married nor have children"

"As you may already noticed, my lady, our customs in the North are a tad different from the rest of Westeros," The boy smiled before continuing with the story, "They promised that if one of them had a daughter and the other had a son they'd arrange a marriage so their families could come together at last, and they could finally be the brothers they knew they were destined to be. A promise is a promise, even if made when drunk, so they kept it. And now those two are..."

"They're betrothed," Cat finished, a frown growing strong on her features.

"Correct, my lady. We all grew up together, those two especially. They weren't told about the arrangement until Sam's father died. They are going to go through with it to respect his honour, but they don't like the idea. Especially Sam"

"Of course she doesn't"

* * *

"This is the only moment in my life I will ever hate this armour," Sam said, finally getting out of the heavy thing and dropping it on the floor. Beau soon followed, copying her actions but adding a swift kick to the offending object.

"I'm pretty sure I'll get scars from this"

"You can always say you got them in battle instead of getting them in a stroll by a garden"

"You know I don't enjoy lying"

"But I also know you don't enjoy having your pride all hurt"

She'd won that one, he assumed, but it didn't mean he couldn't start another argument just for the sake of arguing again. They enjoyed bickering way too much.

"Are you going to stay in those trousers? I'm sure the Princess has some pretty nice dresses she can borrow"

"If I'm going to stroll in a stupid garden I'll do it as I please"

"You will have to wear a dress eventually"

"Because I'm sure you'd just love that, wouldn't you?"

"No," The tanned boy answered in all seriousness, "I know it wouldn't be you. I don't like it when you are not yourself"

"When have I not been myself when around you?"

"When the Princess is also around you"

"Whatever do you mean by that?"

Beau gave her that stupid smirk of his she always hated, "Your eyes get all dreamy when you look at her"

"They so do not!"

"How can you tell? You can't look at yourself"

"I wish I could. Maybe then I'd have the delight of both, kicking your ass and watching me kick your ass"

"Those words weren't very lady-like, my lady"

"Don't call me my lady, you cunt"

"As my lady commands"

A sword was drawn and Sam stood, a fearless gaze ordering Beau to take his sword and fight. The boy's smirk grew bigger, and did as he was silently told, murmuring before starting, "This is where I wanted to get at"

_CLASH _the sound of two swords crashing with each other echoed through the hallways and it perhaps even reached the village. Each and every _clash_ sent other wave of self-explanatory sound dashing through the walls of the castle. The guards were probably going to be there soon, looking for a murderer and a victim, but they would only find two friends engaged in battle just for the sake of it.

The both smiled as the fight went on, the blonde almost forgetting the main reason the combat started at all. Little did they realize they were toring the place apart, cutting the sheets, the wooden beds and some of the Twin's clothes they'd left hanging by the window. A pillow was thrown by one of them and a rain of feathers came pouring down onto them. Beau was trapped at last, but as he was going to give the satisfaction of yielding to Sam, the door swung open and no other than the Princess and a bunch of guards came stomping into the chamber.

"What in the god's names just happened in here?"

"Are you two alright?" Robbie asked, entering the room and running past Cat, searching the place with desperate eyes. They finally landed on the two friends who were covered in feathers and sweat, dressed in simple shirts and trousers and swords held up high, "What in the seven hells did you two do now?"

"He started it!" Sam stated.

"I don't care who started it! Do you know how much it'll cost us to replace all of this?"

The pair exchanged guilty looks, finally taking their time to examine the place they'd just destroyed with their silly games. Robbie didn't look angry, he never did, but they knew he was.

However, the Princess stepped forward and took Robbie by the arm, "Do not worry about it, dear Robert. I am sure Father will not mind"

"No, no, My Lady. These two were my responsibility and look at the disaster they've caused. I assure you I'll pay you back for every single thing they've destroyed"

"My dear, it is fine, really. I am not going to demand any money from you"

"But, my Princess. There has got to be a way to repay for all of this"

"There is one," Cat was quick to reply back.

"Name it and you'll have it, dear"

"I want to learn how to do what they just did. I want to learn how to engage in combat. I want to learn how to shoot an arrow. I want to learn how to handle knives and swords. I want to learn how to defeat a man. And I want Lady Samantha to be my teacher"

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A/N: I know you guys want me to continue with _"To The Stars"_ and don't worry, I will. I promise the last chapter will be up before this year is over. But I'm really liking how this story is going, so if you don't mind, I'll try to be more persistent with this one for now.

And to answer your question, Galaxy Dust 3, you don't need to have watch Game of Thrones to understand this story :) It is based on the land of Game of Thrones but that is pretty much it. You don't need to watch it to understand this fic, but I highly recommend the show, it is one of the best television shows ever, in my opinion.

This fic will be divided in three or four seasons, each season will deal with a different events and those events will escalate as the seasons go on. Don't worry, this is a **Puckentine** fic. It will not contain fluffly Puckentine like To The Stars does, but it will be something different. Hope you like it.


	3. Season 1 - Episode 3

Disclamer: I don't own Sam&Cat.

* * *

**Howl**

_By RaggedyMadMan_

Season 1 - Episode 3

* * *

"My Lord, there must be another answer for this situation, another thing the Princess may want"

"This is what she wants, Sam"

"This makes no sense, why would she want to learn how to engage in combat?"

"Well, why did you?"

"Did what?"

"Why did you decide you wanted to become a Knight?"

The blonde shifted in her place uncomfortably, switching her attention to the now very interesting glass of wine she was holding in her right hand. Robbie cleared his throat, demanding an answer from his most loyal friend, "This isn't about me, My Lord. This is about our future Queen," was the only reply the warrior mumbled before drinking all the wine in one quick sip.

The Prince couldn't help but be amused by the Knight's odd behaviour. It was obvious to him and anyone else who knew her well that the blonde was far away from her comfort zone, but it was his mission to discover why, since the Brooks were not good at it. They feared Sam, anyone in the kingdom did. The Prince personally knew what she was capable of, but he also knew Sam's honour and loyalty was greater than whatever twisted strike of rage the girl sometimes got. Robbie knew she would never hurt him, no matter what. He still respected her privacy though, and decided to approach the subject carefully.

With a swift motion of Robbie's hand the water-boy poured more wine into Sam's awaiting glass. Once it was filled, the curly haired royal continued, "I am curious, Sam. And now I have more reasons to be speculating about this matter. I am beginning to think you don't like Princess Caterina very much"

"What?" The female warrior asked indignantly, spilling a bit of wine on the table. _That wasn't approaching the subject carefully_, Robbie pondered, "No, no, My Lord. I hope I didn't offend you nor our future Queen. That is not what this is about, I assure you"

"Then what is it?"

The blonde went back to inspecting the wooden object beneath her palms; it looked like very interesting wood all of the sudden. After a few seconds of meditation by her part the girl spoke, sight still fixed on the wooden furniture, "I guess I am just afraid of hurting her, My Lord"

"Nonsense, Sam. You won't hurt her, I know Princess Caterina might not look like a tough warrior like yourself but I'm positive she can defend herself"

"If that is true then why did she ask for me to teach her how to defend herself?"

"Um," Robbie hesitated, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly before his reply was finally heard, "Perhaps she just wants to prove herself. You don't see many female knights around here but maybe she is one. Help her inner warrior come out"

"But, My Lord-

"I will not hear more of it, Sam," The Prince interrupted, his command was strong but his voice filled with kindness, "You will be Princess Caterine's teacher until she becomes a well-trained warrior or until she demands the lessons to stop"

The blonde sighed in frustration but admitted defeat, bowing her head slightly and mumbling a _yes my lord_ before excusing herself and leaving his chambers.

_Beau is so fucking death_, she thought as she stomped her way back to the chambers she shared with the three brothers who were probably asleep by then. Even so, her thirst for revenge towards the eldest Brooks didn't dissipated at the thought, it only grew. Oh, the bad, bad things she could do to him while he was asleep. Everyone knew Sam could do very bad things to him even if he was awake, but doing them while he was unconscious seemed like a more promising experience.

In her ponder for revenge the blonde didn't notice she'd walked way long past her chambers and was now lost in the many hallways of the enormous Castle the Valentine's lived in. "_Fuck_," the girl cussed under her breath and decided the walk the way she'd come from. But even back in the same direction she still felt lost. The voices of a couple of boys were heard in the distance and she assumed they were guards, so she followed the sound of their laughter until she found them.

They were guards indeed, but when Sam asked for their help, the men couldn't help but snicker at the woman in front of them, "Are you a girl? Seriously?" One of them inquired in-between laughs.

"Is the North so fucked that they need women to protect them now?"

The red velvet in Sam's features could be seen from afar now, but it only made the guards laughs even stronger, "Now listen to me, you pieces of shit-

"Now, now," The shortest guard mocked, throwing his hands up in the air in sign of surrender, "What kind of lady goes around cussing like that?"

"The kind of lady who is about to kick your fucking ass," The blonde replied before taking the guard by his collar and pushing him hard against the rocky wall, delivering a hard punch in his stomach that made him fall on his knees, gasping for air.

"You crazy bitch," The other roared, drawing out his sword. Sam copied his actions, handling her sword better than his opponent did. The man looked scared, and a smirk appeared on Sam features at the drops of sweat falling from his face profusely. Before their swords could clash, however, the door they had been standing in front of swung open, and a scared-looking Princess came rushing out of her chambers, body poorly covered by a white robe.

"Who is there? Don't come any closer!" Cat screamed out, turning to face the two contenders. Only then did they realize the Princess was holding a crossbow, her finger pressing softly into the trigger and ready to shoot.

They both left their sword fall onto the floor immediately, hands up in the air and skin gone completely pale, "Who are you?" The redhead demanded.

"It is I, My Lady. Lady Samantha, from the Northern Lands"

"Sam? What are you doing here?" Relief was heard in the voice of the Princess as she lowered the crossbow rapidly. As she did, however, her finger slipped backwards, pushing the trigger and liberating the arrow from its confines.

The Princess cried out in fright as the arrow flew straight where both, Sam and the guard, were previously standing. As soon as the trigger had been pushed, Sam grabbed at the guards coat and pulled them both against the wall.

"You just saved my life," The guard stammered.

"Yes, and you just pissed in your pants"

"I owe you my life, My Lady"

"What are you saying? Stand up, you look like a fool"

The man however remained on the floor, his pants wet from his own urine. It did look very pathetic, Sam thought. But her attention turned to the Princess in an instant, "Are you alright, my lady?"

Cat was still standing at the entrance of her chambers. Her left hand was covering her mouth and the other one was still holding the crossbow. Sam approached slowly to the Princess who did not move at all, "My lady?" The girl repeated.

The Princess turned her head to face her, brown eyes connecting with green ones. The ladies held their gaze firmly, until the Princess smiled tenderly and fell backwards, releasing the crossbow. Sam caught her just in time, cradling the redhead into her arms and muttering a few more profanities under her breath, "My lady? My lady, wake up"

"You, idiot!" She addressed the still frightened guard on his knees, "If you want to serve me then fine! I agree to your life of slavery. So now, as my first command, help me out with the Princess!"

The man seemed happy enough to rush to her new mistress's side and helped Sam carry her to the bed, "Yes, she can totally fend for herself, I can see it," The blonde mumbled sarcastically, remembering Robbie's words from earlier that night.

* * *

"Do you suppose we'll get in trouble, m'lady?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure we will"

"The Princess blacked out though, what if she doesn't remember anything?"

"She's a woman, Fredward, she never forgets anything, not a single detail"

The bloody guard had been following her all morning like a lost puppy. Fredward his name was, and if what he'd told her was true, he was one of the best archers from the Valentine's army. Not that Sam believed him that is, not until she saw him fighting for his life in the battlefield. The benefit of doubt was there though, and it was good enough for young Fredward.

She could've done without having the boy following her around though. After the incident with the Princess Sam made her way back to her chambers to find the brothers fast asleep. _They didn't even bother to worry about my whereabouts_, she thought bitterly. When she woke up Fredward was there by her side, staring at her expectantly, in an almost worshiping kind if way.

After Sam almost stabbed him in the eye the scared lad promised not to do that again.

It was impossible to get rid of him and she'd learned that in a matter of hours, so she just let the enthusiastic man jog after her around the castle. They were making their way to the Throne Room just then. Jai had appeared out of nowhere that morning and informed her that the King wanted to see her. It was no wonder what the matter the King wanted to deal with was, but she was at ease, unlike her new undesired companion who was sweating profusely next to her.

"Do you think we'll be beheaded then?"

"Maybe," Sam replied, trying to amuse herself a bit by scaring the boy off just a little bit, "We'll probably be thrown into the dungeons first though. We'll probably starve and the guard will torture us until we're begging to be dead and even then they won't kill us. Not until we're about to die out of hunger, dehydration and open wounds"

Fredward was near to tears after she'd finished the horrific predictions and she couldn't help but snicker loudly and mentally give herself a pat on the back. Just as Fredward was about to ask why she was so joyful for the doors were opened, only increasing his now extremely high amount of anxiety.

Sam walked confidently into the Throne Room, the boy following close behind, almost as if he was hiding behind her. The brothers were there, smirking in that mockery kind of way that Sam despised to no end. A mental note was made in her brain: _Murder the twins after you're done with Beau._

The King was sitting quite lazily on his Throne, his daughter right next to him, smiling brightly at the image of Sam marching into the room with such conviction. The blonde couldn't help but return the smile, which she also addressed to the King. Robbie was nowhere to be seen.

"Your majesty," Sam bowed slightly. Fredward didn't move until the girl pocked him roughly on the ribs.

"Lady Samantha," The King replied cheerfully. _That had to be a good sign_, the two of them thought, "I think you may already know why you are here"

"If I had to guess I presume my supposition would be correct, Your Grace"

The King frowned, turning to glare slightly at his daughter, "You told me I was going to be the one giving her the good news"

"You are, father," Cat laughed, "I think Lady Samantha's suppositions wouldn't be as accurate as she might think"

"W-What do you mean," Sam stammered, forgetting all courtesies.

"Father" The Princess prompted. At the knowledge that Lady Samantha still didn't know the truth behind the meeting, the King's humour lighted up again, inducing him to an attack of rather girly giggles before he spoke.

"Lady Samantha! We would love to inform you that you have been invited to Robert's and my daughter's wedding"

"But," Sam started after a few seconds of utter confusion, "I was already invited to the wedding, Your Grace. I'm going to be right by Robert's side, as his faithful knight and future hand"

The King chuckled excitedly. _Was he drunk?_ Sam wondered, "I know you were going to say that, my dear! Of course you are invited, and so is your new timid friend," The Lord declared, pointing a trembling Fredward who was still hiding behind his mistress.

"I must say I still don't understand, Your Grace"

"Let me make it clear, Lady Samantha. You are not going to be by Robert's side at the wedding. My daughter has personally requested your presence by her side"

"I-I beg your pardon?"

"It would be an honour to have you by my side, Lady Samantha"

"My L-Lady, I must say, I am beyond honoured," Sam started, fighting herself to now stutter the words, "But I am Robert's, I have always been. It is my duty to be by his side in every situation"

"We are not talking about a battle, Lady Samantha. We're simply talking about a wedding; it won't take more than twenty minutes, no more. I am sure Robert will be able to survive without your presence for that amount of time," The Princess stated calmly.

"B-But my Lady-

"It is settled then!" The King announced, clapping his hands in celebration. Another glass of wine was brought to him, only confirming Sam's suppositions. _That one was the one_ _I had to be right about,_ she thought, "You will be by my daughter's side at the wedding. I'm sure Ser Beau won't mind taking your place by Robert's side. My daughter has also made sure to put the best seamstresses in the kingdom at your disposition. Whatever dress you've always dreamed of they will make it come to life"

"A-a dress?!" She half yelled, half whispered. The brothers were laughing hysterically in one of the corners of the room. Now she understood the reason of their presence in the place, and especially the despicable smirks they had on their offensive features when they saw her walk in.

"Of course, my dear! Now off you two go," The King said, gesturing the Princess and Lady Samantha, "I heard you will be teaching my daughter a thing or two about combat. Don't go easy on her; I'm sure she'll kick your ass"

The drunken Lord cackled uncontrollably again, stomping his foot on the ground trying to catch his breath again. Lady Samantha was more than confused to say the least, motionless in her feet. It wasn't until the Princess pulled her by the arm that her limbs started working again, as they made their way out the door. The Brothers were tending to a still chocking King, who was demanding more wine in-between coughs and laugh.

Once outside, the Princess addressed the knight.

"I apologize for my father's behaviour. He enjoys drinking, mainly because it irritates my mother to no end. But my father is a good man, he just doesn't know when to-

"Why did you do that for?"

Cat was surprised by the hostile tone in Sam's voice but made sure to hide her shock, "Whatever do you mean, Lady Samantha?"

"You know how important it is to me to never leave Robert's side, not even for less than twenty minutes"

"Sam, this is ridiculous. He will be there, right in front of you. Not next, but in front," Cat explained childishly, moving from Sam's side to her front repeatedly.

The blonde gave a deep sigh, either of frustration or annoyance. _Don't hit girls, don't hit girls, don't hit girls, _a voice chanted inside her head. It didn't even matter that it was the Princess, in that moment she was nothing but a girl, a normal, but quite abnormal at the same time, ten-and-four year old girl.

"Is this because of the dress?" The Princess asked, stopping her jumping around Sam movements. She really looked concerned, pouting slightly, and Sam could feel her anger dissipating slowly, much to her dismay.

"Partly," She confessed, "I will surely not hear the end of it on behalf of my male companions"

"I never took you for a girl who would accept getting mocked by boys, Lady Samantha. I'm sure you would, and excuse me for the inappropriate language, kick their asses"

The blonde couldn't help but laugh at the Princess's words. Yes, it was true. She would totally kick their asses. But even if she murdered them they would still find a way to haunt her forever, it was inevitable.

"You don't have to wear a dress if you don't want to," Cat spoke softly, tenderly taking Sam's chin in her hand.

"I-I'm just not sure of anything right now, My Lady"

"Neither am I"

Their gazes met and for a moment there was nothing but silence in-between them. Cat's hand was still cupping Sam's face tenderly and the blonde found herself involuntarily leaning into the touch.

"Sam! There you are!" Beau's voice was heard from afar, breaking the moment instantly and bringing Sam back to reality. The Princess snatched her hand rapidly as Sam took three or four steps away from the redhead, bumping her back into a distracted Fredward.

"How long have you been there?" She hissed.

"Since we left the Throne Room"

"Fredward, what the fu-

A hard pat on the back interrupted her words, and her betrothed's face came into view, "So, a dress, huh?"

"I'll make sure to pick up some flowers for you to put in your hair, Sam," Luke chimed in.

"My Lady," Jai was the only one to acknowledge the Princess's presence, bowing his head in respect. The other two brothers seemed to busy bullying the blonde around.

"What colour will your dress be? Pink, I am sure"

"Go fuck yourselves"

Cat couldn't help but feel quite taking aback by the insulting language, but Beau was the one to voice the Princess's thoughts.

"Lady Samantha! Such language is not appropriate for a Lady like yourself"

"Call me that one more time and I swear someday I'm going to put a sword through your eye and out the back of your skull"

"Such hostility," Luke muttered but did not make any further comment.

The oldest brother smirked at Sam's words but did not continue with the daring teasing. He knew better than to not take the blonde's threats seriously, he'd learned that in a not very pleasant way. It was time for Beau's and Sam's gaze to lock, the girl challenging him to keep talking and the boy pondering about his options.

"Lady Samantha," Cat said, emerging from Beau's back. The interruption didn't intrude in the betrothed's silent clash, but she knew she'd their attention, "It's almost midday and I'd like to learn how to shoot an arrow before the meal is ready"

"Yes," The knight replied softly, "Yes, My Lady. Of course"

With a final and deathly glare Sam averted her eyes from her betrothed's and walked away, guided by an overly excited princess and followed by Fredward.

* * *

The Princess abilities had turned out to be nonexistent just like Sam had predicted. Even Fredward was having a hard time restraining himself from laughing at the Princess's weak attempts of learning how to use a bow and an arrow.

_Knights make it look so easy! _Cat had said after she ran out of arrows to shoot. Most of them were scattered all over the grass, only two of them having reached the target, but still very far away from the bullseye.

Sam decided to skip the rest of the archery lesson and focus on sword fighting, which made Cat jump around eagerly. When she was handed a wooden sword however, the mood in the environment changed.

"What is this?" The Princess enquired in a displeased manner. Sam couldn't hide a smirk that resembled Beau's much to her dismay.

"A wooden sword, My Lady. This is the way every learner starts"

"Every learner that is no more than a toddler you mean"

"Her majesty is unhappy," The Knight observed, studying Cat's now growing pout and frown, "I apologize, My Lady. But I cannot hand you a real, dangerous weapon on your first day"

"Well, you let me use the bow and arrows!"

"Because I highly doubted you were going to turn the thing around and shoot yourself in the face, My Lady"

"Such formalities," The girl mumbled, "I don't believe you go around calling your higher officers My Lords during gruesome battles"

"Actually, _My Lady_," Sam emphasized, trying to annoy the Princess even further. It worked, "We do"

"Well, Ser Beau is the future captain of the King's Guard, a Knight and Lord of Karhold. Shouldn't you be calling him _My Lord_ as well?"

"He isn't the _Captain_ of the King's Guard yet, not as long as his father is still in the business, and I don't care if he is the Lord of Karhold. I am the Lady of Greywater Watch and you don't see him calling me _My lady_, partly because I'd rip his balls off if he did. Besides, the day I call that little fucker _My Lord_ will be the day I wilfully accept my limbs to be torn apart from my body while I'm still alive" The blonde said before adding, "_My Lady_"

"Call me Cat. And if you don't, I'll make sure to torn your limbs apart while you're still alive," The redhead smiled sweetly at a troubled Sam, "Now, about those swords"

After a short discussion that was basically based on Sam listing a number of good reasons why the Princess shouldn't try practicing with a real sword on her first day and Cat waving all of those rational points away, the Princess got what she wanted, which was something she was already accustomed to.

Sam obliged, and gestured Fredward to bring them a pair of swords. Cat's enthusiasm started to fade away as soon as she took a hold on the sword. It was heavy, very heavy in fact, and she had to grip the hilt tightly to prevent the sword from falling flatly onto the ground and pulling her with it.

The Knight, however, was swinging a similar sword around and around with just one hand. A pout was starting to form in Cat's features but she fought it off. It was her task to look as fierce as possible, imagining she was in the battlefield, surrounded by blood and corpses.

A wave of nauseas came over her and decided it might not be a great idea to think about those types of ghastly things. Especially not when she needed to concentrate the most. She was going to do it. She was going to beat Sam, Lady Samantha, Knight of the North, Commanding Officer and the future Hand of the King. And she was going to do so in her very first lesson ever.

With a piercing shriek of war, or so she thought so, Cat charged against her opponent. Sam waited, still playing around with the sword and eying the still screaming Princess out of the corner of her eye.

The girl still hadn't tripped in her dress; Sam was going to give her that. The blonde would have fallen flat on her face already. But at the same time, she would never enter the battlefield in a dress, so Cat's magical ability to run in a long dress didn't really matter at the end of the day.

The Brooks brothers had appeared out of nowhere and were engaging young Fredward in what sounded like a humorous conversation. Sam wished she could join the group, but she had to remain there, waiting for Cat to finally reach and attack her.

Sam glanced at the boys again, noticing that Beau's eyes were glued to her form. The boy waved in a girly manner while batting his eyelashes at her. She laughed at his stupidity but still showed him the middle finger.

When she turned Cat was finally a few feet away from her. The Princess battle cry transformed into a grunt when she raised her sword with all the strength she possessed and swung it down to where Sam was standing. The blonde moved aside, letting Cat's sword hit the floor and causing the redhead to trip over it. Her face hit was the first part of her body to hit the hard, dirty ground.

Some guards that were close by rushed to their monarch's side and helped her up. Sam didn't feel bad about the outcome of the first lesson; the Princess was the one who had asked for lessons after all. It wasn't going to be a clean, lady-like kind of job and she expected the Princess knew that before coming up with the idea.

"Can we go eat now?" Luke asked Sam who had just joined them.

"The meal was ready hours ago, I'm starving," The youngest twin added.

Before Sam could agree, however, the voice of the Princess was heard again, "Let's do that again!"

The five comrades sighed in unison at the redhead's request. Sam turned around, annoyance clear in her features, "It is quite late, My La-Cat," She corrected herself before continuing, "The world's not ending. We can practice tomorrow all you want after breakfast"

"No! We shall continue right now"

"No, no, we shall not"

"Samantha. I am the Princess of the Westernlands and I command you to-

"Exactly, _My Lady._ You are the Princess of the Westernlands but I am a Northerner. And while I do respect your authority I do not respond to you. I respond to my king, the King in the North, His Grace Lord Walters"

"W-Well," Cat stammered, "Then as your host I command you-

"And as your guest, who by the way is starving, I tell you: We will continue practicing tomorrow morning. End of the discussion. Now, if you excuse us, _my lady_"

"End of the discu-Who do you think you are, Sam? You are not my Father! You are not my Mother! You are not even my Septa!" But Sam was long gone, jogging a bit to get as far away from the Princess as she possibly could, her companions faithfully treading right behind her.

Three boys, except for one.

"You know, my lady," Beau spoke, emerging out of nowhere once again and startling the Princess in the process, "Sam is quite a unique woman, stubborn for most part. If she says the sky above us is red then it is, and no one will convince her otherwise"

"I just don't understand. Everything was fine just a couple of hours ago and now-

"A hungry Sam is not a happy Sam. She'll come around after she has her midday meal, my lady, do not fret"

"Ha, I don't fret. Especially now that I have my good sword to keep me safe," Cat said innocently, reaching the sword that'd made her trip minutes ago. The object was stuck real deep into the ground, and the Princess could not retrieve it no matter how hard she pulled.

Beau grimaced at the redhead's unsuccessful attempts, vaguely remembering the days when he first started his training to become a Knight, the future Captain of the Kings Guard, just like his father. He was sure he'd never been as terrible as the Princess was, but close.

"I could help you out as well, My Lady"

"I beg your pardon, Ser?" Cat asked in-between gasps. The sword was still in its place, no matter who hard the Princess tried to pull it out. She decided to kick the offending object and it still didn't move an inch.

"Sam's not the best teacher in the world, as you might already know by now, my lady. I could teach you as well. Sam and I, we were both trained by the same person, Master Sword Fighter Spencer Forel. Whatever she's teaching you I already know it too. Same knowledge, different teacher, my lady"

"But, won't Sam get upset?"

"She'll be annoyed, yes. A lot. Which is why I'm doing this in the first place. Also to help you out of course, my lady. But you must understand, annoying Sam is why I was brought into this world"

"And you still intend to marry her nevertheless"

"Yes. I might be a pain in the arse, excuse the inappropriate language, my lady. But I am _her_ pain the arse"

* * *

The next morning Sam woke up to wonderful news. The Princess presence was needed in one of the many audiences the King held with foreign visitors and she could not attend the early sword practice Sam had practically promised her the day before.

Deciding to take advantage of her free day she decided to visit the town right outside the castle's gates. Beau resolved he was going to tag along under promises that he was going to behave or at least he was going to _try_ to. Fredward was loyally following Sam around as per usual.

The twins were staying in the castle. The Valentine's youngest son and heir to the throne, nine year old Terryn, had become quite fond of the twins, and was demanding to spend some time in the company of the identical brothers. The Queen didn't even try to hide her discontent at the idea of her little boy hanging around bastards, but she could not deny anything to her baby boy.

The trio strolled around the small town, purchasing some food just for the sake of eating something while they looked around the place.

"Are you going to wear a dress?" Beau asked, wanting to start a conversation between the three of them. The only thing he earned was a glare by Sam's part, which made him go silent immediately, not without his usual _I'm so proud of myself_ smirk.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"What?"

Fredward gestured them to shut up, which didn't really help at all since the little town was already very noisy as it was, "Come on," Was the only thing the boy said before disappearing into the crowd. Sam made no attempt to go after him until Beau pulled her forcibly by the arm, looking for the young lad among the crowd.

They spotted him, trying to make himself taller and not miss one single bit of the action that had the audience captivated. Now the pair was curious as well and made their way to the front line.

There were two people engaging in a sword fight. The swords were rusty and they looked like they could fell apart in any given minute, but it didn't seem to matter to the contenders. The one in the grey shirt was a ginger boy in his late twenties, they guessed.

His opponent was the one that left poor Beau befuddled. The one in the black shirt was a girl, white skin and long black hair. Beau knew Sam was strong but seeing that girl handle the sword the way she was doing so and attacking her adversary with an almost perfect technique made him doubt his blonde companion.

He just wanted to toss Sam in there and make them fight each other, just to see who would survive and who wouldn't.

"I yield! I yield!" Bellowed the ginger boy, snapping Beau out of his trance.

The girl had won the battle and cheers erupted from the crowd. He joined them gleefully, clapping and cheering as loud as he could. The girl did nothing more than to bow in gratitude and take both swords with her, disappearing into the multitude.

"Come on," Beau said, taking a hold of Sam's arm again and pulling her behind him.

"What the fuck are you dragging me all around the place for, arsehole?" Sam asked, starting to get annoyed at all the fuss Beau was making.

They had followed the girl to, what they assumed, was her place. It didn't look much like a cosy kind of home. It was a forge, and the heat emanating from its insides could be felt from miles away. Beau couldn't stop fidgeting and it was driving Sam to the point of insanity.

"Look, if you want to go talk to her, you can"

"I do not need your permission to do so"

"Then why are you still here?"

"Because...Well, because..."

"I don't have time for this," Sam stated firmly before stepping out of their hiding place and marching towards the forge. Beau cursed her under his breath and followed, so did Fredward.

"Yes, hello. Are you the girl who just fought against a ginger boy out there?"

"Yes," The girl replied coolly.

"Oh, great then," She turned to Beau and pushed him in front of the indifferent woman who was eying them suspiciously, "This is my friend. I think he just fell in love with you"

"Sam!"

"That's repulsive," The girl said.

"I-I did not fall in love with you. I was just passing by and...And, noticed your pretty face and beautiful black hair, what's your name?" Beau sputtered out before he could take control of what he was saying. Sam cackled behind him, swearing she would never let him forget this moment.

"Jade"

"Jade. Tha-That's a beautiful name. My name's Beau"

"I didn't ask"

"Right...Well, Jade-

"Listen, are you three going to buy something or need one of your weapons to be fixed or something? Because I have a lot of things to do and you are just, well, wasting my time here"

Beau started fidgeting again, looking from Sam to Jade, silently begging the blonde for some help. She'd never seen him that way before, not even in his worst moments, in the middle of the worst battlers, enduring the worst wounds she had even witnessed had she seen him beg for help like that.

He was her best friend after all, "Jade, listen. I know you are a blacksmith and all that but your fighting skills are amazing. We would really love to have people like you fighting for our side"

"You are not from the Westernlands," Jade pointed out.

"No, we are not. We come from the North, we serve King Walters"

"Why would I be interested in fighting for a land that is not even mine?"

"Because that land is offering you something this one would never even dream of"

"Which would be?"

"Jade, how would you like to be a member of the Kingsguard?"

* * *

**A/N:** Have you guys ever written a story that you just don't mind if it gets tons of reviews/favs/follows or not because you only care about writing more and more because you have fallen completely in love with it? Yeah, that's the way I feel about this one.

R/R if you'd like.

By the way, just to clear things up. Cat's fourteen years old in this story. Sam is seventeen, so is Beau. Robbie is eighteen. The Twins are fifteen.

Also, I have made Sam and Melanie the Ladies in Greywater Watch, Melanie is currently ruling, since she is the oldest twin. And the Brooks are the Lords of Karhold. These two titles represent the Houses of Reed and Karstak, two of the most loyal houses to the Stark, in this case the Shapiro, in Winterfell.


	4. Season 1 - Episode 4

Disclamer: I don't own Sam&Cat

* * *

**Howl**

_By RaggedyMadMan_

Season 1 – Episode 4

* * *

_"__Whenever you feel like learning how to use a sword instead of just making them, come to me. Tell the guards Lady Samantha Puckett from the North, commanding officer and future Hand of the King sent you, they'll let you in" _Sam had told Jade before leaving the forge, trusting the girl was going to do as she was told, even if she looked like the kind of person who did the complete opposite of what she was ordered to.

And Sam liked that.

Beau kept quiet during their walk back to the palace, only opening his mouth to mumble a _'perhaps another day'_ to a few prostitutes who cornered him and an awkwardly fascinated Fredward as they passed near a brothel.

Beau was never one to lay around with common, dirty whores. Even if her betrothed behaved like an idiot most of the times she knew he respected her and their parent's agreement. Furthermore, he respected their friendship and would never wish to bring shame upon Sam's name. Not that she really cared in the least, but she was still moved by the sincere gesture of her childhood friend. Not that he needed to know that, of course.

But even if he didn't lie around with whores he still liked flirting with them. Well, Beau flirted with anything that had legs and breathed. But not this time. Not after he'd met Jade Waters.

Sam couldn't help but feel a slight strike of jealousy within her insides. Yes, it was true, as much as she did not care for Beau as a romantic interest she still cared for him as a friend. The boy had gone through a few heartbreaks in the past, when they still were not aware of their parent's promise to each other. Her friend had been inconsolable for months and she did not want to go back to having to drag him out of his chambers after weeks of not taking a proper bath or shaving.

The offensive smell that plagued Beau's room during his time of solitude and depression was one Sam could not forget. She swore she'd seen at least three dead rats in there, but the affirmation could never be proved.

And then there he was, tossing around in bed and mumbling incoherent shit under his breath. It was absurd, and Sam had to fight the urge to walk up to his bed and kick his ass until he fell unconscious and could finally stop making so much noise.

The twins slept peacefully, and she could not help but think that they were probably used to their big brother's insomnia nonsense.

The thought of how in seven hells they would manage to share a bed once they were married clouded her mind, causing her temper to rise even higher.

There was a soft knock on the door, and it was the only thing that stopped her from setting Beau's bed on fire. Neither boy was going to get up from their ridiculous fluffy bed to see who was requiring their presence so late at night. Not even Beau, who was now faking to be asleep.

_Lazy arsehole._

The knocking became quite insisting, and Sam walked to the door reluctantly, not even bothering to put on a robe to cover her nightclothes. Darkness invaded the room and she almost stumbled with Fredward, who was sleeping soundly on the floor. The blonde made sure to kick him before opening the door.

"Your highness," Sam said, not surprised in the slightest to see the Princess standing before her, candle in one hand and two wooden swords in the other. "I am very sure it is past your bed time, your majesty"

Cat rolled her eyes at Sam's poor attempt of a joke, but even more at the courteous terms the knight was using to address her. "Don't call me that. I already told you, I'm just Cat"

"Alright, _just Cat_. What can I do for you?"

The Princess suppressed the urge to stomp her foot in annoyance, "I want to practice"

There was a pause, "Do you have any idea of how late it is?"

"Of course I do, Sam. I am not stupid"

"Then why do you want to practice so late at night? I thought we'd agreed to practice every morning after breakfast"

"I just figured we would get to practice better if we were not distracted by our surroundings"

"So what you mean is that you find my friends annoying?"

"Yes," Cat whispered harshly. "That's exactly what I mean"

"Well, I guess that makes two of us. Where do you wish to go practice?"

"A-Are you actually going to do this?" The Princess stuttered. She had not been expecting the blonde to agree so easily.

"Why not? I was already having a hard time getting some sleep in there and now that your pretty face has come to distract me, I highly doubt I'll be able to conceal my sleep"

Despite the invading darkness Cat was sure the blonde could see her velvet red blush creeping all over her pale cheeks. Sam's proud grin could be the exact replica of the one Beau was constantly giving her. She shuddered at the thought, but the grin did not disappear.

"Just follow me," Cat ordered in a whisper. Sam did as she was told, much to her own surprise.

The knight followed the redhead past the Great Hall and into a grand room. Cat lighted up the torches in every corner, and realization of where they were hit Sam, "I don't think we are supposed to be here. Only the small council is allowed into this room"

"And I am the Princess, silly. I can come and go wherever I please"

"Yes, but I am not. I don't think your father or any of the members of his council would be pleased to find out that a Lady from the North, an officer commander on top of that, has visited their council room without any previous notice. A lot of valuable, extremely secret plans and letters are kept in this room, Cat. You know that"

"Well...the North is our ally"

"It is"

"Is the North planning on breaking their alliance and declare itself in open rebellion?"

"Not that I know," Sam shrugged.

"Then there is nothing to be afraid of. I trust you, Sam"

Sam eyed the redhead. It was quite pathetic, actually. There they were, gathered in a forbidden place, no other than the concealed council room, both in their nightgowns, barefoot and with only two small wooden swords that were laying on the table, waiting to meet action.

The blonde reached for the small weapons; face neutral, but still not taking her sight off of the Princess. She tossed one sword to the girl who caught it by surprise but quickly composed herself. Sam spoke flatly, "Lesson number two, Princess. Do not ever trust anyone. Not even me. Everyone lies in this world, Cat. It is sometimes the best way to survive. Betrayal is everywhere nowadays. You might think you are safe here, surrounded by those strong, tall stone walls. With your Father by your side, your brother, your army," The blonde paused her pacing to face the Princess. The girl was gripping the hilt of the wooden sword tightly; eyes wide open as she stared at Sam. She was scared to death and was trying not to let it show, and Sam respected her for that.

"But you are not, Cat. No one is," Sam finished, finding herself standing so closely to the Princess that she was sure the redhead felt her final words more than she heard them.

Cat looked up to meet Sam's stare, so lost and neutral. Neither of them dared to move and their breathing was soft, the only thing that could be heard was the rapid beating of their hearts against their chests. Gathering courage and trying to calm her trembling limbs, Cat spoke, "You are not going to hurt me, are you, Sam?"

Silence.

"Sam?"

"No," The answer finally came, in a low and hoarse tone, "No, Princess I won't hurt you...But someone might"

* * *

a/n: Hey, guys. I'm back! Well, sort of. Short update but it's better than nothing I suppose. Each season will contain 6 episodes, so two more to go for this one. **"To the Stars"** is momentarily on **hiatus** and it will come back as soon as my holiday break starts (around **November. **Blame University for that one)

So I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed _"To the Stars"_ and please R/R. It's just about to get interesting, I promise.


	5. Season 1 - Episode 5

Disclamer: I don't own Sam&Cat

* * *

**Howl**

_By RaggedyMadMan_

Season 1 - Episode 5

* * *

Just like Sam had anticipated, Jade showed up the next day past midday. She was carrying a dirty old bag across her back and nothing else. Beau had almost fainted at the sight of the black-haired girl walking next to Sam in breeches and a baggy blue shirt.

The twins teased him mercilessly and Beau for once in his life could not come up with any witty come back or even a kick in the balls. Sam was having even a better time. She's taken upon herself the task of training Jade in the afternoons, much to Cat's dismay.

Despite being, in Cat's words, _creepped out_ by Sam's odd behaviour the night before, the redhead had not stopped insisting on her morning lessons. The blonde was back to being the same self, teasing Beau endlessly and marching around the place, dressed identically like Jade.

_"__Sam, if you know anything about a deliberate attack onto the Westernlands you must go to my Father right the way," _She told her last night, when she'd finally gotten her voice back.

_"__I know nothing of the sort, Cat"_

_"__Then why are you telling me this?"_

_"__Why shouldn't I?" _

Damn, she hated Sam when she spoke in riddles. But she believed her nevertheless. She was sure Sam knew nothing about an imminent attack on her land. But most of all, she was sure Sam knew nothing.

Just plain _nothing_ about _anything_.

Frustration grew inside her and it drove them to lesson three_: Never attack while you're angry._ She learned that the hard way the night before, and the bruises on her arms and back were proof of it.

_Don't worry, I'll be fine, _was the thing Cat told the blonde when she forced herself not to strike the Princess with her entire strength. And even though Cat did not regret saying this, she lamented the fact that she was wearing nothing more than a simple nightgown. Even the small wooden swords made for little children struck hard on her delicate skin. With each hit came a shy _sorry_ from her adversary, and it made the redhead grow even more frustrated.

And now there she was, eying the new girl, Jade Waters, who had taken a liking to practicing archery with Lady Samantha. And to make things worse, the black-haired girl was actually really good at it, earning a few proud pats on the back from Sam's part.

_"__All I got were some stupid bruises and a haunting speech"_, thought Cat bitterly. _"Not even a nod of approval" _

Was it perhaps jealousy what was propagating through Cat's insides?

"_No_," She thought again, kicking the stupid idea out of her mind, _"That is just plain silly. I have never been jealous of no one ever in my entire life. Why should I? I am the Princess. I get anything I want"_

**_Anything_**_, but not __**anyone**__. _

_"__Shut up, stupid conscience! I am not jealous in the slightest. I am not jealous, I am not jealous, I am not-_

"Good evening, Cat," Sam greeted kindly, joining her on the stoned bench.

"Oh, hello there, Lady Samantha. Are you here to amuse me with another one of your extremely terrifying lessons? Or are you just here to brag about that new apprentice of yours who seems to be perfect in every single aspect of warfare?"

_Too much for __**not**__ being jealous. _

"Jade's good. She'll make a great warrior one day," Sam commented, completely oblivious to the venom in Cat's voice. The redhead huffed in annoyance and returned her attention to her knitting, deciding that ignoring Sam was the best choice, given the situation.

The blonde, however, did not seem to catch her friend's intentions and carried on, "She's good with the sword, even better with a bow and arrow. We only had one good archer, which was Jai. Now we have two. Beau is good with the sword, as I am. A Luke knows how to handle a pike. Fredward is good for moral support, I guess. He said he's a good archer but I don't believe him. Maybe he'll be good with a sword once he dares to pick one up. And Prince Robert is surprisingly good with a mace"

Cat feigned interest, eyebrows rising exaggeratedly and nodding for her friend to continue. Sam did, too distracted by her own imagination to notice Cat's fake concern, "We could really be a whole army, just the six of us. Well, if Prince Robert actually wanted to take part in the adventures of warfare, that is. Speaking of Robert, shouldn't you be with him?"

The redhead could feel the vein in her forehead increasing its size by each passing second. Was Sam kicking her out, by any means? Violating her vow of ignoring the blonde, Cat spoke coolly, "Yes, actually I should be with my betrothed, Lady Samantha. But since he accidentally drank milk this morning he's been indisposed"

"Seven hells, didn't you know he is lactose intolerant?"

"Up to this day I'd never heard that term before, no. Mainly because normal people here in the Westernlands tend to enjoy a healthy and prosper life"

"Oh, really? Because Beau and I went out to the nearest town yesterday and I am pretty sure I saw everything but people living healthily and prosper"

"Are you insulting my Father's ruling?"

"No, I am insulting _your_ naivety and lack of tact with your own people"

"I did not came here today to be insulted"

"Believe me, Princess, if I insulted you, you would know"

"And I would have your head on a spike"

"That is one of the worse pick up lines I've heard in my entire life. And that includes a list full of Beau's," Sam laughed, turning away from the Princess just in time to miss the blush creeping onto Cat's skin, much like the night before.

"What do you know about their lives?" Cat mumbled in annoyance, "You are a High Born, your parents are Lords, and you lived in a Castle. You know nothing about the way they live"

"And neither do you, Princess"

Sam got up and left to join her friends before Cat could even move or utter a word, or even a: _you know nothing, Samantha Puckett._

Oh, how she'd been yearning to tell her that. Although she was sure Sam would not care and would just laugh it off, wearing that _stupid_ smirk of hers that she'd learned from Beau apparently.

_"__I was so blind when I first met her and now I'm stuck with her until my wedding with Robert"_

She didn't realize she was staring at Sam until the blonde was informed by one of the twins of this, turning around and shooting a wink right in Cat's direction.

For the third time that day, Cat blushed.

_"__I need to talk to you lot. Right after dinner, back in our chambers," _Sam told her pack, which now included Jade as well. The cynical young lady was not allowed into their room, but they managed to distract the guards and get her in.

The twins were already ready to go to bed, disposing their clothing, not caring whether Jade was present or not. Beau reddened at his brother's actions and stopped them abruptly, tackling them onto the hard ground, fighting and cursing. Fredward was munching happily to a slice of cake he'd managed to snatch from the table during dinner. Sam was pacing around the room, fidgeting. Jade didn't blink an eyelid.

"Guys...guys...GUYS," Sam bellowed, getting the attention from the men in the room, "I need to tell you something important"

"Are you pregnant?" Luke threw in a guess.

"Did you kiss the Princess?" Jai offered.

"Are you and Ser Beau not going to get married?" Fredward asked, strangely hopeful.

"You guys are betrothed?" Jade questioned.

Beau went pale.

"Would you lot shut the fuck up? No! It doesn't have anything to do with me. It's got to do with the Princess"

"Ah, so you finally kissed her," Cheered Jai.

"Do you want Robert to cut my fucking lips off? No!" Her voice went from loud and hoarse to a soft whisper as she started off with the tale. "Yesterday night there was a knock on the door. It was the Princess, she wanted be to go with her-_Not a word, Jai-_ To help her practice, since she was not happy with the outcomes of the previous day. Anyway," The group gathered closely around the knight. "She took me to the council room. Now, I know I shouldn't have been there but you know the Princess, stubborn as seven fucking hells...

"Papers were scattered all over the place, the table, the chairs, and the floor, even the chandelier. I didn't know where I was by then, only one torch was lighting up the place. I took one of the many open letters, the Princess was distracted lighting up the other torches and I didn't think it was going to be anything important. But it was"

The look on Sam's face darkened, her eyes turned into the same lost orbits Cat had seen the previous night. Beau knew that look better than anyone, "Sam? What did you see?"

"The Princess...The Princess was already betrothed. A few days before Prince Robert informed his intentions to the King"

"They betrayed their agreement," Luke whispered.

Sam nodded.

"They did"

"Who was the Princess promised to?" Asked Fredward.

The answer made them all shudder.

"Nathan Bolton"

"Why the _fuck_ would any parent engage their only daughter to a beast such as a Bolton?"

"They can't be that bad"

"Fredward, their House Crest is a red flayed man, hanging upside-down on a white X-shaped cross"

"Why did you tell me that for? Now I'm going to have nightmares and I'll keep kicking your bed from the floor"

"You do that and I'll personally send you over to the Bolton's"

The conversation was exchanged in harsh whispers. Beau, Sam and Fredward's presence had been personally requested by the King himself. They were taking part in a sort of wedding rehearsal, something the Northern comrades didn't believe necessary.

_"__Boy, people in the Westernlands are weird,"_ Sam noted before leaving their chambers, wearing their heavy armour.

_"__Better start getting used to it. Princess Cat will be the future Queen in the North and she'll surely make us participate in dumb customs like this one" _

Sam cringed at the thought.

Once in the Great Hall the three friends were practically glued to each other. The twins' presence had been prohibited by Queen Sabina, since they were not legitimate Highborn sons but mere _bastards_ instead. The Northerners knew better than to argue with their host, so they kept their mouths shut.

The twins did not mind, however. They were used to that kind of treatment. And not having to attend a stupid rehearsal gave them some time off to wander around the palace or even visiting the little towns outside the gates in the company of Jade, who knew the place better than them.

The only three participants for once in their lives wished they were bastards. Anything would be better than six straight hours of wedding rehearsals. Weddings were not a big thing in the North, really.

After three hours, they just decided to start talking about the terrifying truth Sam had discovered recently.

The Bolton's were nice when it came to throw banquets and such, but when lied to they would become the god of death itself.

The friends were worried to say the least. They knew there was no way an Army representing the House of Bolton would make it past the gates without anyone noticing, as small as it could be. Of course, there was always the possibility that Cat's _drunken_ father or _intolerable_ mother could have invited the Bolton's in a sign of peace.

_"__That never really work," _Thought Sam.

"Well, we have to do something," Fredward said firmly. The knights could not blame him. Even if he belonged to Sam now the Westernlands was still his true home, not the North. And hearing that your land was under potential attack was enough to make any calm man go mad.

Beau replied, "What can we do? I highly doubt the King is sober enough to understand what's going on and the Queen just won't do. She will believe we are Bolton's secret spies or some crazy shit that woman might come up with"

"She is really fucked up, isn't she?" Sam mumbled.

They all nodded, turning their heads to see the Queen who was staring proudly at her daughter and at a very nervous Robert. Sabina grimaced at the sight of the slender Prince.

_Anything is better than a Bolton though,_ they bet the Queen thought.

"So what? We are just going to keep out mouths shut and wait for crazy Bolton men to attack us?"

"The best we can do is be prepared for whatever comes," The other boy declared. "Who knows, perhaps nothing will go wrong and we are just being too pessimistic"

"Besides, we don't know anyone here in the Westernlands. We do not know who is worthy of our trust and who is not"

"Shouldn't you two let your Prince know what's going on?"

"Do you want things to get better or worse? Robert will go crazy if he finds out"

"As much as I hate to admit it, Beau is right. Robert is a good man; he is good to his people and a fair Prince. But he does not handle warfare matters very well"

"But if you want to make him cry and grow anxious, please, be my guest and tell him the good news"

Fredward seemed to hesitate at the sarcastic request, so Sam decided to continue before the boy shouted everything he knew about the Bolton's, "We still have days until the wedding day. We will work something out. A plan, anything to save the royal family and take them to the North. No one else can know, unless you want to have us killed before the possible Bolton attack"

"Boy, I do hate weddings"

* * *

a/n: To anyone who watches Game of Thrones, you know what weddings mean. You probably know what's coming.


	6. Season 1 Finale - Episode 6

Disclamer: I don't own Sam&Cat. If I did the show would still exist and I'd make sure that Jen and Ari got along so well they'd get married in a heartbeat.

* * *

**Howl**

_By RaggedyMadMan_

Season Finale - Episode 6

* * *

Wedding day had finally arrived and it came along with a very nervous Robert, an overly excited Princess and a furious Sam.

The blonde wanted nothing more than to spend the day hiding from the crazy wedding planners and handmaidens that were trying to get her into the _stupid_ dress the King had ordered for her. It was a beautiful dress, really, made out of Northern colours and adorned with tiny little flowers and birds here and there, a decent cleavage to show off just enough skin and long sleeves that embraced her toned muscles tightly.

Any other girl would have swooned at the mere sight of the magnificent – and surely expensive – dress. But Sam wanted nothing more than to rip the offending garment into pieces, put on her shiny armour and get the hell away from that place.

She'd woken up to an empty room that morning, not even Fredward was nearby. She'd considered herself lucky at the moment and even dared to sleep way past her rising hour, only getting out of bed when her personal handmaiden went to retrieve her.

But her friends were nowhere to be found, not in the dining room or back in the gardens. The palace was huge and she wasn't going to waste half of her day looking around for those morons, so she just settled in her bed right after breakfast, devouring a book she'd found lying in Cat's bedroom that morning when she went to ask her if she'd want to practice that morning, only to be shooed away by the perky bride.

It was a dirty book, and Sam couldn't help but snicker loudly at the realization that the Princess might not be as innocent as she pretended to be.

_I wonder where she got this from_, the blonde pondered while she read as fast as she could. It was a big book, and she knew the Princess was going to notice its absence sooner or later, and she'd know it'd been her who had stolen the lustful literally work, so she wanted to finish the thing before the Princess could take it away from her.

She wasn't able to do so, though. As soon as the sun announced it was past midday, three or four handmaidens rushed into her bedroom without knocking and almost carried her away, into another and more private room.

Sam was sure she'd almost broken one of the girl's noses whilst trying to fight her way out of the women grasp. They were only doing her job, she knew. Taking her breeches and long shirt off, scrubbing her skin with water and soap until she felt like her skin was going to fall off if they kept on going, and dressing her up in that _ridiculous_ dress.

_"__If the Bolton's really attack tonight I might as well join them_,_" _She thought, _"As long as I can have my revenge against the Valentine's for making me go through this wedding bullshit"_

Once she was all done and ready the handmaidens didn't leave her alone for one second, no matter how much Sam ordered them to go.

_"__Smart old bitches, they know I'll just rip the damn thing off if they leave" _

But they couldn't prevent Sam from running to her chambers and locking the door, slipping into a pair of trousers and opening the door only when the incessant knocking became unbearable. The handmaidens didn't notice the hidden pair of trousers but did follow Sam's movements as she retrieved her sword and wrapped it securely around her waist, wrinkling the smooth fabric of her dress and making the women gasp in horror. The blonde laughed at their reaction but didn't have to fight them to let her have her sword with her.

_"__They know I'm a knight, and although I don't think they understand, they respect that" _

The girls guided Sam out of the room and into a grand hallway, where the Princess waited impatiently for the ceremony to begin. The King was right by her side and as soon as he acknowledged her presence, she was brought to stand right behind them.

The Princess turned around to face her teacher, who was tugging furiously at the tight sleeves of her dress, "Well, well, Lady Samantha. You look like you are actually the bride in that petite, beautiful dress"

"I can't fuck breathe," Sam mumbled, not minding to watch her language in the presence of the King.

"Now, aren't you starting to feel just like a proper lady now?" The redhead asked, but couldn't help her eyes from lingering on Sam's exposed white skin. Hiding underneath an armour or breeches and long-sleeved shirts never really allowed Cat to behold the smoothness and creamy skin the blonde possessed.

The dress really hugged her tightly in all the right places, and Cat's sight travelled all the way up Sam's toned arms, to the exposed skin on her chest and all the way down to-

"Enjoying the view, Princess?"

Cat jumped back to reality and a blush threatened to spread on her features. Just a few seconds ago it was her who was mocking Sam endlessly but now the tables had turned. The blonde had that conceited smirk on her face that she'd learned from Beau and the redhead had to stop herself from stomping her foot in frustration.

That would only gain the attention of her barely distracted father and she didn't want to explain herself of why she was blushing at the sight of another woman's _exquisite_ cleavage, and especially not when she was just about to get married to a Prince, to a _boy_.

"Don't flatter yourself, Lady Samantha. I...I was just surprised. I never thought I'd see you in such a unique garment"

"Neither did I; And I believe the one responsible for this disaster is standing right in front of me"

"What?" Cat scoffed, "This is not my deed, Lady Samantha. If you're looking for the one person to blame, she is not here"

"Excuse me? No...Don't tell me that your mother-

"That is right. You know how my mother is like; well now that I think about it you clearly don't so let me explain. Remember how outraged she was when she first met you? You were wearing that heavy armour and had your hair pulled up in your helmet?"

"I never forget a face"

"Well...She just thought you would look...nicer dressed as a proper lady. Especially for my wedding day"

"So it is basically your fault"

"It's not!"

"It's so! If you were not about to get married I would not be forced to wear this thing"

"How is this engagement my fault?" Cat whispered, making sure her father wouldn't listen to their little argument, "Do you think I'm enjoying this?"

"Well, you do look very excited to be marrying a complete stranger"

"I am a woman, Lady Samantha. A Princess. I was taught how to fake a smile at the age of six. Did you really think this whole act was really a thing? I am ten-and-four, Sam!" The Princess hissed, forgetting all formalities once again, or the anger due her jealousy that drove her to the use of such polite terms, "I thought I was happy with this engagement and even though deep inside I knew I wasn't I tried to be! Robert is such a nice boy, but then you came in with that stupid armour on and that stupid, fierce look on your face and your _fucking_ freedom,

"And I just knew I was never going to be okay with this situation. I just knew that even though this is what I've been preparing for my whole life I just couldn't do it, not willingly, not in my terms. I just..." Tears were threatening to fall down the Princess's features and had to gain her composure back with the intake of a deep breath. Sam was at loss of words and was fidgeting anxiously, "There is just want thing I want in the world, Sam..."

Finding the ability to form words back, Sam asked, "And what is it what you want, Princess?"

"Freedom"

* * *

The ceremony had been one of the most beautiful things Sam had ever witnessed, as much as she hated to admit it. Robert looked dashing, in his own way, and even though she wished she could be by his side like she was supposed to, she was also glad to be by Cat's side.

Now that she knew the truth, the real Cat hidden behind all of those layers of Princess-like behaviour and what she thought was quite a lot of make-up, she felt the need to protect her even more.

That desire had always been there, ever since she laid eyes on the stubborn redhead, she felt the incomprehensible need to protect her. That's why she'd been so against the Princess becoming her student. Sam was harsh and would normally show no mercy against her opponents. Jade had taken some of the initial beating like the real badass she was, but then turned out to beat her teacher in some ways, bringing a small feeling of pride to the blonde.

But Cat was not Jade, and Sam could not even begin to picture treating the fragile Princess in the way she treated Jade. But the blonde knew, she knew Cat was not weak, not even in the slightest, and she also knew that her extreme care for her made the Princess's blood boil. It was something she could not help, though. She had to take care of the Princess, she just had to.

And that's why when she caught sight of a few Bolton men during the ceremony, her heart started drumming violently against her chest. Her fists tightened and her jaw clenched. Beau and the others were standing not too far away from the Bolton's, and had the exact same worried look on their faces. Fredward look more dead scared than worried, but she still counted it as concern.

It had been the Queen, she was sure. The Queen was responsible for this mess, and she was not talking about her dress any longer.

_Who the fuck betrays the honour of a family and then invite them to a feast as if nothing happened? _

Maybe the Queen was trying to make things right with the Bolton's, trying to make sure that they were still allies and good friends. _But this is not the way to do it_, Sam thought.

So as soon as the ceremony was over, the blonde rushed to her chambers and discarded the stupid dress aside. She wanted to rip it off and dance over its remains, but there just wasn't time for that. Fredward followed her close and helped her put her armour on. Halfway through the process, a shy knock echoed in the room and they both looked up anxiously.

"Sam? Are you in there?" The Princess said meekly on the other side of the door. The two young warriors sighed in relief and proceeded to let the redhead know she could come in. Once inside, the squire went back to work.

"You're almost done," Fredward mumbled to the blonde, who was adjusting her breastplates into place.

The Princess looked at the two of them with confusion in her eyes and could not help but wonder, "Sam, I hope you aren't seriously thinking about walking around the rest of the night in _that_ heavy thing. The feast will not be over soon"

"Do not fret, Cat, I will be just fine. I've spent days without taking my armour off, a few hours will not make much difference"

"You did say it made your flesh burn when you first came here. The weather has not changed much; you will only end up with the same result"

Sam shrugged, not really caring to try and build up her lie any further, "I have adjusted to the weather I supposed"

Before Cat could retort the young squire addressed Sam, "Should I retrieve your helmet as well?"

"Yes, but try to hide it well. If I show up with all of my armour on we will raise suspicion"

"Sam, what is going on?" The Princess asked as soon as Fredward left the room to fetch the knight's helmet.

The blonde was working eagerly on adjusting the last few parts of her armour in place, slipping her gauntlets lastly, "Nothing...Nothing is going on, Cat. But just make sure to stay close to me tonight, or to any of my friends, alright?"

Cat couldn't help but laugh at the response she got, "Nothing is going on but for some reason you're putting your armour on and commanding me to stay near you and your armoured friends"

"It was not a command. It was a...very direct and strong suggestion"

"And what if I decide to simply ignore it"

"Then I'll go and look for you"

"You are not good at either hiding or comforting people, Sam"

"Oh, I already knew that," The blonde said, and with one last tug her sword was in place, embracing her waist tightly and ready for action, if it came to that. Finally, the knight turned around to face the Princess eye-to-eye. She found her in the state she expected her to be, confused and just slightly scared.

"Sam..." The redhead pleaded in a whisper, eyes widening and pouting a bit exaggeratedly.

The blonde had to admit defeat, and finally let the truth slip out. Not entirely though, "Listen...There are reasons of why we think that there might be an attack tonight on one of the many invited houses part"

"You told me you knew nothing of an imminent attack on my land just a few nights ago"

"And that was the truth. I know nothing of the sort, we run only by speculations, but it is better to be prepared"

"I should tell my father," Cat said anxiously, now sharing the same expressions of fear with the young squire who had yet to emerge with Sam's helmet in hand. The Princess intended to leave the room and warn her father about the possible assault, but was immediately stopped by a firm grip around her wrists.

The blonde knight pushed Cat against the stoned wall, taking both of her wrists into her hands and securing them above the Princess's head, "You're hurting me, Sam! Stop!" The redhead hissed, squirming agitatedly under Sam's grasp.

The eldest girl grasp loosened a bit, but still did not let go of the royal, "Your father is drunk as fuck right now, Cat. He would only make things worse with the Bolton's. We do not have enough proof to confirm anything but your father will not care. He will proclaim the Bolton family as traitors and if they did not hate your family before they would if that happened. Do you want to take that risk?"

By the time Sam finished giving her speech in a whisper her young squire was already in the room, helmet resting in his shaking hands. The boy was agape at the view, shocked by the position he'd found the two ladies in. Sam surveyed Cat's expression before she let go of her wrists, but did not move away from her.

"Pretend as if you have not heard a word from me. Go back to the feast and try to enjoy yourself but do not drink wine and keep an eye open for every movement any Bolton makes. We might be just exaggerating but it is always better to be prepared," Sam whispered so softly that the Princess felt the words more than heard them, "If hell unfolds just look for me or any of the guys. There will always be one of us close to you. We already know a way to escape from this place. We will keep you safe"

* * *

Cat was good at pretending that everything was alright, so she had no trouble at putting up a fake smile and excusing herself for her short absence. The Princess joined her now husband at the head of the giant table, in front of the whole lot of people who were dancing and drinking in the middle of the feast room.

Robert's family had travelled all the way from the North to attend the wedding. Every single one of them except for one, Robert's youngest brother Prince Zoran Shapiro – or popularly known as Goomer. _There must always be a Shapiro in the North_, Robert's mother had always said.

Cat eyed the Bolton's from afar and they were allegedly having as much fun as any other family invited. She wanted to keep a positive mind and not ponder too much on what Sam had told her. The Northerners assumptions were based on mere guesses, and with any luck those guesses would not come true any soon.

Robert kept on drinking wine from his golden goblet and Cat could see he was starting to get a little bit dizzy. She tried to tell her husband to hold back on the drinking, but the Prince just waved the suggestion off and told her everything was going to be alright. Cat surely hoped so.

Looking around she spotted the twins standing near her, pretending to be engaged in conversation. Ser Beau was dancing around with a Western girl but was obviously not enjoying himself. The boy kept stealing glances to the Bolton men just a few feet away from him, and Cat understood that he had unwillingly accepted to dance with the Western lady just to keep a close eye on the Bolton's.

Jade and Sam were nowhere to be seen, and that did not help to ease Cat's nerves. Just as she was thinking about excusing herself once again to go and look for the two warriors, one of the drunken guests bellowed, "Time for the bedding!"

Before Cat could blink she was lifted from her chair and carried away by a bunch of Western men, who proceeded to discard her beautiful wedding dress, leaving her only in her undergarments. A crowd of giggling Northern women were doing the same for Robert across the room, and she could see the boy blushing profusely but still enjoying himself.

The Princess was scared but she knew what was coming for her. But even so, if the feast was practically over and the bedding ceremony was about to take place, it meant nothing had gone wrong. The guests were going to leave soon or they were going to move the party to another place, perhaps a brothel or the empty streets. Either way, it meant Sam had been wrong in her assumptions and that everything was going to be just fine.

As she was being carried by the Western men, up in the air as she was some kind of animal that had just been hunted down, the redhead glanced at the Northern knights, whose eyes travelled from her to the Bolton men and then back to her. They didn't look calm and happy like Cat supposed they would now that she was almost sure all danger had passed.

The musicians were playing an upbeat kind of song while the men around her sang in unison, _"Red hot grew his iron, as both did desire, and he was too wise not to strike while 'twas so. Said she, 'what I get I get out of the fire, so prithee, strike home and redouble the blow'"_

As the drunken men sang the newly-weds were finally united at the front, closed door. They were both still in the air, sitting in perfect balance on the top of the guests shoulders. Danger had passed, the Bolton's were not traitors and everyone would live.

Cat sighed happily for the first time that night and studied her now-husband carefully. The boy was in a pure state of joy that Cat was sure was induced by the lots of cups of wine Robert drank throughout the night. Still, she could not help but smile heartedly at him. She would grow to love him, she was sure of that. Perhaps not as a lover but as a dear, caring friend.

The Prince extended his hand for her to take and so she did, caressing his soft skin with her fingers. Robert mumbled something that sounded like an _'I love you'_, striking Cat in surprise.

The Princess thought about her options and decided to mumble the same words back, but before she could utter a word, the inevitable happened.

A sword pierced Prince Robert from the back and all the way through his heart, sticking out of his chest in a bloody mess.

Silence invaded the room as Robert struggled for air, his left hand flying over to touch the object of his unavoidable death. His other hand never let go of Cat's, as the Princess stared in pure horror at the state her husband was in. The boy was now drowning in his own blood and he could not help but cough, sending drops of blood flying in Cat's direction.

Even as the red liquid landed on her face, the girl did not move an inch. It wasn't until the Queen, Robert's mother, screamed out in horror, that hell unfolded.

Bolton men drew their swords out and charged against the Westerns that were holding the Princess up in the air. The terrified lads moved away, dropping the Princess hard on the floor in the process. She dragged the now motionless corpse of her husband down with her, never letting go of his now cold hand.

She lay there, as war surrounded her. _This is what being in a battlefield must feel like_, the Princess thought, unable to move an inch or even blink. Women were screaming and swords were clashing repeatedly. Men after men fell right next to her, but all she could do was hang on tight to her dead husband.

She didn't care about running away; she didn't even dare to move away from the Prince. The young boy had not been her true love but he was nothing but kind and caring towards her. They were supposed to depart to the North the next morning and start their life together. Robert would allow Cat to continue her lessons with Sam, she was sure. The boys would always be by her side and would amuse her to no end. They'd live happily in the castle and would rule over the North one day, with Sam as the Hand and Beau as their loyal Kingsguard.

If she was going to die that night, then so be it.

The Princess closed her eyes and braced herself for any inevitable blow that would surely come soon heading her way. But four sets of hands lifted her from the floor and started dragging her away. Cat did not fight them. _Maybe they just want to get me to the front of the room so everyone can see my head rolling on the floor from every angle._

But when a familiar voice reached her ears, loud enough to be heard above all the noise around them, the girl snapped her eyes open and looked up at her captors, "My lady, you must let go of the Prince, now!"

It was Luke who was carrying her away with the help of his twin brother, but their task was being more than difficult considering that they were not dragging only one person, but two. Only then did Cat realize that her hand was still gripping Robert's securely. The image of the dead Prince, with blood still sputtering out of his mouth and chest, and looking up with a blank stare was enough to bring an endless flow of tears running out of the Princess's eyes.

"My lady, do as I said! Now!"

Making their way among the fighting, dying men the twins finally had enough, and the youngest brother separated himself momentarily from Luke to take Cat's hand away from Robert's forcibly. The girl did not protest, and her extremity fell limp against her side. She heard a man noticing Jai's presence and charging towards him, but the boy easily dodged him and slit his throat open. A rain of blood cascaded down to the unmoving Princess who was on her knees, facing the corpse of her abandoned Prince as some Bolton men gathered around him and lifted him off the ground and up in the air, cheering and laughing.

The battle was still going but the twins managed to drag the redhead out of the place through a back door, where Beau was impatiently waiting for them to arrive. Before they could shut the door closed, the girl took a glimpse of her father drunkenly fighting off three men at the same time, and her mother hiding fearfully behind a table.

_"__Father..." _Cat whispered softly and the door behind them was closed, leading them into darkness.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Jade hissed harshly, holding up a lightened torch and descending the steps of a place that looked like the dungeons but Cat wasn't sure. She'd never been to that place before, didn't even know it existed. Jai was now carrying her bridal-style, which she thought was just an ironic joke from the Gods.

"Oh, I'm sorry. As you may have heard we were having such a fun time up there, you know, if you really count a _massacre_ as what a party is all about," Luke replied sarcastically, earning a glare from the black-haired girl.

Reaching the end of the stone staircase, they were met by an impatient Sam, who was also holding a lightened torch and pacing around in the middle of a wide hall. Fredward was by her side, clutching a bag of that the Princess supposed contained food and small weapons.

"Seven hells, it was about fucking time!" The knight said, studying the group that had just arrived to meet her. But when her eyes stopped wandering her brow furrowed, "Where's Robert?"

The brothers exchanged glances and Beau just knew he was the one who had to deliver the bad news, "Sam...Robbie...Robbie's dead. One Bolton pierced his heart with a sword as he and the Princess made their way to their chambers"

"I'm sorry," Jai said, looking as crushed as the girl was.

Sam started shaking uncontrollably as she obviously fought the tears back. Her jack clenched and the grip on her sword tightened. It could not be true, it just couldn't. The blonde shook her head intensely, refusing to believe the words she'd just heard, "No...No, you're just fucking fooling around. This is not fucking funny, you arshole!"

"Sam! Be quiet, they'll know we're here," Jade ordered in a soft but severe voice. Sam, however, did not listen.

"Once I get Robert back you lot will end up with your fucking noses broken because this is not funny," Sam said, laughing bitterly. Dashing right past the brother the knight started to climb up the stairs, but stopped as soon as Beau sneaked past her and took her forcibly by the waist.

"What the fuck are you doing, you fucking cunt?! Let go of me!" Sam screamed, kicking and trying to elbow the eldest brother to no avail.

The blonde kept fighting her captor until she finally acknowledged the presence of the Princess and stopped battling Beau's grip. The look of Cat's face confirmed everything she'd just heard, and her expressions softened a little bit at the sight of Cat's betrayed, sorrowful appearance.

The Princess just nodded, and it was all it took for Sam come down from her maniacal high, "Let me go, Beau," The blonde whispered, fully calmed. Beau did as he was told and put the girl down to her feet.

"Follow me," Was all she managed to say before marching away, Fredward treading closely behind, leading the pack behind them.

The walk through the hall was long and the place stunk horribly. There were stains of what looked like blood on the walls, and there were some bones laying around the place, or hanging from the roof. Cat didn't wonder why her parents never told her about this place. It was terrifying and she could not stand being in that passage one more second.

The thought of her parents brought an aching pain to her chest and more tears flooded her eyes, blurring her sight. She felt a drop of water – or was it blood? She wasn't sure by then – fell on her forehead and looked up to see the youngest twin still carrying her. He was trying to hold back his tears with little success. The Princess did not know what to say or do, so she just buried her face into the crook of Jai's neck and closed her eyes.

* * *

The secret passage led them near the gates, long away from the castle, and they had to wait a moment to make sure there were no enemies in sight. There weren't even Western soldiers in the posts. They were surely battling the traitors back in the Castle or its surroundings.

Marching silently, the group made their way to the giant gate. The three brothers started to push one of the giant doors open, but were stopped by an old man who had snuck right next to Luke, invisible in the middle of such darkness, and was holding a small dagger to the boy's throat.

"What do you lot think you're doing?" The old man asked.

The three brothers could easily disarm the poor elder, but decided against when a now-standing Princess spoke from behind, "Maester Daniel?"

The man's body trembled at the sound of her voice and was aghast at the sight of the Princess, going pale as if he'd just seen a ghost. His knees gave out and fell onto the floor, bowing his head and tears slipped down his cheeks, "My lady, my lady Valentine, my lady," The elder kept repeating, sobs escaping his mouth in-between words.

Cat hadn't moved since she saw Robert being brutally assassinated, but her legs finally responded after seeing the familiar face of her Maester, a man who had known her since she was a little girl. The Princess walked towards the man and knelt by his side.

"Yo-you're alive, my dear Princess. You're alive," The man sobbed, shaking his head as if he didn't believe what his eyes were seeing. The Princess understood the grief the man must have felt after learning that his land was under attack and the monarchs had been assassinated by traitors. But Cat could not form a coherent sentence to save her life, so she just put her arms around the man and hugged him tightly. The Maester responded immediately, clutching at the girl as if he did not want to ever let go.

They were losing precious time and Sam knew it. They were far away from the castle but it was just a matter of time before the rebellion inside the palace moved out into town and reached the gates, "Listen, old man. We can't stay here. The Bolton's will start looking for the Princess once they realize there is one Western head missing"

"They aren't just the Bolton's"

"Wha-What do you mean they aren't just the Bolton's?"

Parting away from the elder's embrace but still staying close to him, the Maester was free to speak what he knew, "They aren't just the Bolton's," The man repeated, "I heard that men from the Iron Island have joined them too. That's why they are just too many for us to handle. They will take this land before our allies arrive"

"We are Northerners, Maester," Sam spoke, "Princess Caterina married our beloved Prince Robert," Her voice trembled just the tiniest bit at the mention of his name, but Cat was sure she was the only one to noticed, "Our King and Queen in the North were also murdered tonight, which makes Caterina Queen in the North now. We must bring her back to our land. She will be safe there, we will keep her safe. As soon as we arrive and the Pri-Queen is put to safety we will reach an agreement with our allies, the Southerners. Casterly Rock is from high importance to the King and he will not doubt to join our forces and kick the traitors out of your town"

"B-But the Northern lands are so far away from here, my lady. This could take weeks, months"

"And that is why we must get going, Maester. The sooner we get out of here the sooner we will get Queen Valentine to safety"

The elder was at a loss of words again and he could do no more than to turn around and face his Princess._ Not a Princess anymore, the Queen in the North. _

The redhead shot him a small smile that spoke the words she could not utter, and the Maester nodded gently, "You can open the gates. But do it quickly, who knows if there are more men waiting outside"

At this signal the brothers proceeded to push the giant doors once again and managed to open it just a little bit, leaving just enough space for all of the to exit town one by one. The twins went out first, silently checking if there was any enemy around. When the gestured for the rest to follow, Beau did so and Jade moved behind the boy. Only Sam and Fredward were left, waiting for Cat to step out of her land.

"Come with us," The redhead said in a whisper.

"My lady, I can't. I will only slow you down, and my place is here, my lady. I was born here and I shall die here," The man spoke, eliciting new tears by Cat's part. The Maester caressed her cheek gently, "It was such an honour to be your Maester, my lady. The moments I stayed with your family will always hold the most special place in my heart...Now go, my lady. For the night is dark and full of terrors"

Holding back a sob the redhead stood up and walked to the tight exit, guarded closely by Sam and young Fredward, but before she could slip away from her home, her Maester addressed her one last time, "I know you will be the most brilliant Queen that Westeros has ever had, my lady Caterina. There is no doubt in my mind that you will grow to become a powerful woman, a warrior that will fight against anything that dares to stand in her way to victory. You will be as free and fierce as a direwolf, my lady"

"You will rule better than the old gods and the new. And every single man who dared to betray your family and your land will tremble in your presence. They will kneel before you when the time comes and you will have your merciless vengeance when the time comes. When you play the Game of Thrones, my lady, you win or you die, there is no middle ground. But you, my lady, you will make every man want to perish before facing you. You will not be defeated, my lady. You will win the game"

* * *

a/n: So...well...yeah, this is a thing. Anyway, thank you to everyone who has been reading this story. I am truly in love with this work and I enjoy writing every single word of it. I need a beta reader if you guys decide that you want me to continue writing this story. So if any of you wants to be the beta reader for season 2, let me know.

The song the drunk men are singing is "**Lusty Young Smith**" by Brobdingnagian Fairy Tales, celtic music I believe. I wrote the massacre bit while listening to "**The Rains of Castamere**"because I found it kind of ironic.

Anyway, thank you readers. Please R/R. Let me know what would you like to see happening or if should continue this or anything you'd like to say.


	7. Season 2 - Episode 1

Disclamer: I don't own S&C.

* * *

**Howl**

_By RaggedyMadMan_

Season 2 - Episode 1

* * *

The pack had been travelling for two weeks and they were running out of food and water. The knights were still wearing the same armour they wore the night of the dreadful attack, now stained and somehow even heavier. Cat was the only one who had disposed her garments. She'd protested at first, of course. But after a few days of walking in the tight wedding dress which made her trip and stumble into piles of mud constantly, the queen coincided to wear Fredward's squire vestments.

No one had disturbed them for the last couple of days. The group travelled in the dark depths of the forest to avoid any undesirable encounters. The twins would wander off to hunt rabbits or squirrels, anything eatable. They had already eaten all the food Fredward had packed before the events of the Golden Wedding.

_The Golden Wedding_; that's what the people were calling it. They didn't hear much while travelling well hidden in the woods, but Beau had eavesdropped to a conversation a couple of elders were having in an inn he decided to go to and buy some bread with the little money they had.

_"__They burned the whole place down...or almost all of it. They put the royal's heads on pikes, up in the Castle's walls. People are saying the Princess's head is nowhere to be seen though. Some think the Bolton's kept her alive to rape and torture her. Others say she got to run away"_

_"__Wherever she is Nathan Bolton will track her down, no doubt" _

They didn't tell Cat her whole family was dead. They didn't tell Cat most of her land was nothing but ashes. They didn't tell Cat Nathan Bolton was looking for her. Those were news only they needed to know about. The now-Queen wasn't stupid, opposite to what the Northerners thought when they first met her, and she constantly demanded her guardians to share whatever information they had about her former Kingdom, but they always refused.

_"__I will have all of your stubborn arses thrown in the dungeons if you do not tell me what's going on in the Westerlands!"_

_"__I have no doubt that you will, your grace," Beau replied, "But for now, if you please, don't threat those who are keeping you alive"_

Sam fought a smirk off her face. Jade wasn't too successful and chortled loudly. The redhead had never been addressed in that way, but knew better than to protest. Ser Beau was right, at the end of the day. She had no doubt she could manage to fend for herself, especially after what Ser Beau himself had taught her – something Sam still didn't know about – but surely she would not be able to go as far as to reach the North all by herself, as much as she hated to admit so.

Silence was the response Beau got from the Queen and even the unfamiliar Fredward was surprised by this. The eldest Brooks brother was worried he'd somehow offended his new Queen, so he stopped momentarily to bow in respect. Everyone in the group rolled their eyes, especially Sam, everyone except for Cat, who acknowledged his kind gesture with a reassuring smile.

Her curiosity wasn't fully satisfied yet, of course. So late at night while the rest was sleeping, the Queen silently made her way towards Sam, who was resting against one of the many trees surrounding them, being the one designated to keep watch right after Luke's turn was over.

The girl-knight wasn't surprised to hear Cat tiptoeing behind her. She could hear her, no matter how much the Queen tried to make her mission as quiet as possible, but Sam decided to give Cat the satisfaction of a well-done job.

"Ehem," Cat cleared her voice when she was close enough to her target.

"Your grace," Sam addressed her, trying to contain her amusement, "I didn't hear you approach"

"I have been working on my abilities, thank you very much," The redhead beamed.

"And I congratulate you, your grace"

"Don't call me that"

"Are you joking? If Beau or the twins ever hear me address you in an improper manner I'll never hear the end of it. You didn't know them well when Rob...Well, when our deceased Prince was still with us," The blonde took a deep breath before continuing with the story, "I was loyal and respectful to him but the brothers were certainly way better at the game than I ever was..."

"I tried, especially when we visited you because I wanted to make a good impression, didn't want you to think us Northerners were disrespectful bastards..."

"Well, you certainly failed at that"

Instead of taking offense in Cat's statement the knight only laughed and agreed to her words, "True. But you were a Princess in the West...And ten-and-four, redheaded Princess in a land we'd never seen before. We tried to follow the royal protocol as best as we could, I assure you...But our loyalty wasn't yours, it was Robert's. But now...well, now you're our Queen. And we'll show you the same respect we showed Robert"

"But I don't want that," Cat whispered, crouching to be at Sam's level, "Not from you. I'm... sorry about what happened back in Casterly Rock. The way I spoke to you wasn't proper; oh, how much I hated it when you called me _Princess_"

"Well, you started it"

"I know I did. And I apologize for that, Sam," Cat's legs finally gave up and the girl fell to the floor, pushing herself up against the tree, right next to Sam, "I was just jealous...I should have never let my emotions get the hold of me. I almost ruin everything."

"Jealous?" The blonde asked incredulously, "Why were you jealous?"

The redheaded Queen averted her eyes, thanking the pooling darkness for hiding the crimson blush that was creeping up her cheeks, "I-I didn't say jealous"

"Yes, you did"

"No, I didn't"

"Yes, you did"

"Sam, grew up with a little brother. I can keep going with this game all night long"

"And I grew up with Beau, so can I. And I assure you I'd win"

Cat huffed, "We're in the middle of a way. There's no time for silly games"

"This is what you think this is? A war?" Sam asked, pretending to forget about the girl's previous statement. She'd get to that jealousy matter eventually. The North was far away, they'd be travelling months. She'd evoke the truth from Cat sooner or later.

"Well...of course I think this is a war. My land just got invaded, Sam. My family was brutally murdered, my kingdom taken, my husband massacred" Cat said aloof.

The knight was astonished by Cat's lack of emotion at her own words. The girl wasn't even ten-and-five and her words already contain the amount of vengeful, hateful venom that Sam had only witnessed in the manner of speaking of an old, retired, bitter war general.

It made her own anger begin to raise, blood boiling rapidly in her veins. Cat didn't deserve this. Cat didn't deserve to witness the horrendous spectacle of a bloody war. Because Sam knew what was coming, she knew her Queen was right; this whole ordeal will soon become an unstopping, savage war.

Sam also knew that lying to and Queen was a crime punishable by death; treason. But she couldn't force the girl to face the truth, the dreadful truth. She wanted to take Cat under her wing, protect her from all evil, not let any harm come to her, make the difficult decision for her, not even let her glance at a battlefield, she wanted Cat to be safe. And if it came to it, give her own life to save the girl's one.

_It's a matter of duty_, she said to herself every time she thought about the monarch. _You're her knight now, the hand of the King, no, the hand of the Queen. It is your job to assure her safety, even if you have to trade your own life for hers. Whatever you're feeling is nothing but a sense of duty and respect to the new Queen of the North._

But Sam still had a question to answer, a lie to blurt out, "This is not war, Cat. It doesn't come even close to what a real war is like. The traitors will be punished and your land recovered. And that is something the boys and I will take care of, along with our allies in King's Landing. Just one swift, simple and final battle. No war, no complications, no more suffering"

"You promise?"

"I promise"

And even though Cat knew she was lying, she decided to believe in her lies.

Cat coming up to Sam in the middle of the night had become a regular habit after a week or two of constant travel, whether the knight was keeping watch or not. The first morning Luke had found the two girls snuggled up against each other he hadn't stopped teasing the girls mercilessly about it.

Sam got the most of it, since even though the boy was still ten-and-five he still held a lot of respect towards his new Queen. But not even the royal title stopped the redhead from hearing a large number of jokes and shared laughs with his twin brother. Even the eldest Brooks stepped in to the fun.

But the novelty had faded after the girls had been found in the same situation over five times, and now Luke only poked Sam awake and offered the Queen a helping hand to get up from the hard, cold floor.

"Why does she only sleep next to you?" Jai had asked her during one of their hunting trips for dinner.

"What? Do you want the Queen to sleep next to you too?" The blonde accused him, not stopping her work of skinning a rabbit.

"W-what? No! No, of course not"

"Then why do you want to know?"

"We're-I mean, I am just curious. You're not the only girl here, Jade's with us too. If the Queen is uncomfortable about sleeping next to us boys, no matter how much protection we can provide, then we understand. But she only chooses you"

"Is Jade jealous?" Sam asked, snickering at the mere idea of Jade being jealous of her and Cat.

"W-w-what? No! That is not what I meant!"

"Yes, it was. Do you want me to go tell Jade you're telling everybody that she's jealous because she can't cuddle with our Queen late at night?"

Jai went pale at the suggestion and Sam swore she could see him trembling just a bit. She didn't have that effect on the boys, perhaps due all the camaraderie developed throughout their years together. But the bare mention of Jade sent the brothers in an uncontrollable state of fear and paranoia.

And she respected Jade for that.

"Am I really a Queen?"

It was late at night and Sam was keeping watch. Cat had not doubted to miss a few hours of sleep to keep the knight company, no matter how many times Sam insisted she didn't need to do so.

They were near Riverrun, and in just a couple more days they'd make it there. It was neutral territory and the pack leader's, Beau and Sam, were almost sure they'd be able to find a nice, small keep to spend the night in.

They all yearned for a nice feather-bed to sleep on and a shower, no matter how cold or hot the water was. A warm meal and the reassurance of at least one night of safety.

But the group was still not there and they needed to stay focused. No Bolton's had been seen since they started their escapade, and Sam was almost sure of the _why_. She'd only discussed her theory with Beau, no one else needed to know.

"Huh?"

"Am I really _Queen_?" The girl repeated herself.

"Of course you are, Cat. What are you talking about?" Sam had given up on calling Cat _your grace_ or _my queen_ after many of the redhead's tantrums. She'd informally call the Queen by her name late at night, when she was sure nobody as listening.

"Robert had a brother, Prince Zoran, who I assume is being treated as the Northern King for now"

"For now," Sam said, "They do not know you're still alive up there in the North. Hell, they don't even know that we are still alive. Once we get there you'll be Queen"

"Yes, but why would they accept a foreigner as their new ruler? My marriage to Robert wasn't even...well...consummated"

"Well," The blonde started, taking a seat next to Cat, resting against the girl's arm. Sam always discarded most of her heavy armoury at night, something Cat appreciated. She could feel the blonde's body heat against her own when she didn't have so much steel on covering her, "You would be Queen without a doubt if you and Robert had...you know, done the...thing"

The girl-knight coughed and squirmed uncomfortable due the topic at hand, Cat only chuckle at the silliness of the whole thing, "So I'm right, I'm not really the Queen. Unless your people choose me to be their monarch I hold no power over them"

"You still married Robert"

"But they were not there to witness the wedding, for all they know I could be lying"

"They'll have our word"

"Will that count?"

"Of course it will. We're kind of people up there in the North," Sam said with an arrogant smirk on her face.

"Oh, are you?" Said Cat, trying to keep her giggles down.

"You don't believe me?" The blonde huffed, faking indignation.

"Well...I just never took you for the social type of person"

"I'm not. I just attend their stupid feasts and meeting for the free food," Sam mumbled, eliciting another round of Cat's giggles.

Hearing the redhead's laugh made Sam's insides flutter; bringing the blonde that pleasant but confusing feeling she had whenever the queen was around. Cat was so close; she could feel her warmth despite all the layers of clothes she was wearing. The blonde turned her head so her forehead was resting on Cat's shoulder, lips pressing against the girl's small bicep. They were pressed against each other, and Sam's instincts drove her hand to rest on Cat's thigh, but as soon as it happened, the redhead's giggles stopped and Sam flinched away from her, standing up and walking a few feet away from the queen.

"Sorry," The knight mumbled.

"It's okay...You're tired, I'm sure it wasn't your intention to," Cat replied, thanking the darkness once again for hiding the blush in her cheeks.

"Right"

A few minutes of uncomfortable silence passed by, Sam moving to sit on top of a rock nearby, not too far nor too away from the girl.

"You could still marry Prince Zoran, you know"

Sam did not know where that idea had come from or why she'd dared to share it, but she couldn't take it back. It was actually a plan that would sort everything out. Zoran and Cat were really close in age; Zoran was ten-and-two while Cat was ten-and-four. She didn't get to opportunity to share as much time with Zoran as she did with Robert, but the boy was a nice, charming Prince. A little clueless and innocent, but a nice boy overall.

It was all almost too good to be true and she wondered why no one else thought about it before. It was even a better match than Robert and Cat would've made. Perhaps not in the _ruling and kingdom kind _or_ going off to battle_ kinds of ways, but that's why they had her and the brothers for.

Cat and Zoran would be perfect together. Cat would be happy and would be able to carry the innocent and calm type of life Sam knew she deserved, the type of life Sam wished she could provide but knew it was impossible to do so.

It was all too perfect but even so Sam didn't utter a word, and neither did Cat.

* * *

a/n: And I'm back! You guys asked for more Puckentine moments so here you go :) This season will definitely contain more Puckentine moments. Perhaps not overly-romantic ones since they're still discovering their attraction for each other, but there will definitely be more Puckentine.

**Fedora-Will:** Thank you! I would be so thankful if you could be my beta-reader. If you've got time to do so let me know and I'll PM you the next chapter before I post it. Thank you!

Also, since I'm gonna be on holiday break soon I want to start writing more Puckentine, but I have no idea what about. So if you guys have prompts or anything, leave them here in a review, PM them to me or inbox me on Tumblr.


	8. Season 2 - Episode 2

**Disclamer**: I do not own Sam&Cat.

* * *

**Howl**

_By RaggedyMadMan_

Season 2 - Episode 2

* * *

_"__Now go, my lady. For the night is dark and full of terrors"_

The loud, shrieking sound of thunder awoke the Queen Regent from her deep slumber. The sweat running down her forehead caused her red, neglected her to glue itself to her face. Tears were threatening to spill out of her tired-looking eyes, but the girl fought them off. She hadn't cried since she escaped from Casterly Rock and she wasn't going to start doing so any time soon, especially not with all of her guards around her.

They already treated her as if she was made out of delicate porcelain, as if she'd break if they let her trip and fall straight on her face. Which she had done a number of times already. Beau had even offered himself to carry her the rest of the way, something she'd refused thoroughly.

They were near Hornvale, or so she overheard from a conversation the twins were having near stream they didn't know she was bathing in. They'd run away blushing furiously after they acknowledged her presence, mumbling apologies until they were long gone. Cat only laughed and brushed the incident off in a matter of seconds; Thanks to the twins carelessness she already had an idea of where they were at the moment.

That night the twins didn't dare to look at their Queen straight in the eyes and instead offered themselves to take the first watch instead of their dinner. Their oldest brother achieved to utter a _"Do whatever you want"_ with his mouth full of roasted squirrel. If Sam knew something was going on with the identical brothers she didn't let it show.

Things had changed between Sam and Cat since they agreed the redhead would marry Prince Zoran when they arrived to Winterfell. Cat didn't pay any more midnight visits to the blonde any longer, mainly because Sam had decided to switch turns with Jade to an hour she knew Cat would be in deep sleep.

They didn't cuddle to sleep anymore, not even to shield themselves away from the cold nights upon them. But even so, Sam still slept near Cat, only a few feet away, which didn't make Cat as happy and safe as Sam thought she would be. If anything, it only made it grow even more frustrated, for whatever reason.

The girl had tried waking up right after Sam did, to try and sneak up on her the way she had done many nights before. But Cat was a heavy sleeper, and was only awoken when the bright light of the sun fell on her features.

That night, however, the sky was booming and the stars hidden behind ugly grey clouds. _"No one could possibly sleep through this oncoming storm" _Cat thought, but was proven wrong by the brother's loud snores.

With the stars and moon hidden there was no source of light whatsoever, so the girl decided to venture and go talk to whoever was taking watch at the time.

She was secretly hoping it was Beau. After all that happened in the Westernlands they had never finish with their secret archery and water dancing lessons, and maybe if he was around he'd want to practice one more time, for old time's sake.

"I know you're there, Cat"

The girl froze when she realized it wasn't Beau addressing her, it was Sam.

"I thought you were Beau," Cat said, disguising any tone of surprise in her voice.

"Do I look like Beau?"

"Well, you've tied up your hair all the way up and you still have your armour on. Not to mention your back is turn to me"

"My apologies," Sam said without making any attempts to turn around and face the Queen Regent. Cat didn't give up, and instead she swallowed some of her pride and made her way to where the knight was, sitting on the cold floor by her side, her worn-out breeches allowing her to freely do so.

"I heard we currently are in Hornvale"

"No, we are not. We are near Hornvale. With any luck we'll reach it in a day or two, and we'll be closer to Pink Maiden"

"What is waiting for us in Pink Maiden?"

"Well, if you are referring to if we'll be greeted by enemies or allies, I am not sure," The blonde spoke without turning to face Cat, "What I am sure of is that there is a nice little castle there, a keep if you may; Acorn Hall. We stayed there for a few days when we were travelling to the Westernlands to meet you. It's a nice place"

Cat wanted to ask for more details, but it wasn't necessary. Sam kept on talking, a little brightly, "There is a Lady there, though. Lady Carly Shay, married to the Lord of the whole place of course. She was always trying to get me into one of her many horrible, huge dresses... Always ordering her maids to chase me around Acorn Hall to force me into bathing and brushing my hair. It was fun until they got me one day"

The redhead giggled at the picture of some old maids trying to get Sam into wearing fancy dresses and delicately brushing her hair, "So you are telling me that the dress you wore at my wedding day was not the first dress you ever worn?"

"Oh no, it was. I had to break some old wenches' noses, but I freed myself from their claws. Lady Shay was not happy, obviously. But after some wine during dinner she started to find it very amusing. She didn't remember about the incident the day after, thankfully. And I paid the old wenches' some gold not to say anything"

She didn't laugh at her own story but Cat was glad to see the small curve of a smile on Sam's features, "Do you reckon we will see her again?"

"Hopefully. You two will get along perfectly. She might even find you a small dress for you to fit into. I bet you miss them"

"I don't," Cat was quick to answer, much to Sam's amusement.

"Really? A delicate, perfect little redheaded Princess like you likes to play hide and seek from deathly enemies in worn-out, dirty breeches instead of hosting tea parties with fellow air-filled ladies in a palace made out of gold and probably chocolate as well?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I said…And," The girl blushed, "I'm not perfect"

"Yes, you are," Sam said under her breath, hiding her face even further into darkness. Cat was at a loss of words, and could only sigh at the knight's response. There was a warm feeling invading her stomach and all the way up to her heart and cheeks.

Sam spoke again, and the feeling was gone.

"You should go to sleep. It's only a few hours before dawn and there's still a long way to go"

"It'll probably rain in the morning"

"It will"

"And we'll travel in that condition?"

"Well, sorry we couldn't get you a carriage, _your grace._ You see, we were too busy trying to get you out of Casterly Rock alive," Sam mocked, "Beau's offer of giving you a piggy back ride is still up if you'd like though"

Cat breathed out a scoff, "Burn in fucking hell, Samantha Puckett," and with those words, the girl stood up and marched away from the unmoving girl.

* * *

The following night Cat found herself in the same position as the previous one. They'd been travelling all day long under the heavy rain. Everything they possessed was soaked, including the few slices of bread they still had. The wood was wet to its core so making a small fire was impossible.

It had stopped raining as soon as they set up camp under a few gigantic trees that would offer up some protection. By the time Fredward pointed out the danger of getting struck by lightning while sleeping under one of those huge trees the whole group was already fast asleep.

The rain was going to come to soon enough, but it wasn't enough to keep the redhead awake. She drifted away from the real world and into unconsciousness, only to be greeted by more nightmares, this time about her burning land, the corpses of her parents hanging of the tall roofs of the castle, men being flayed alive, women being raped, children thrown into the river and drowning, Bolton men laughing hysterically at their surroundings while the revolting imagine of Nathan Bolton sitting on her father's throne towered above her land, sneering down at the horror while her little brother's head was hanging off one of the arms of the throne.

It wasn't the sound of thunder what woke her up this time; it was the echoing of the shrieks from her people, the disgusting smile on Nathan's face, the ghastly image of her brother's head in Nathan's hand. It was all too much,

If anyone asked her she was going to say it was just the rain falling down her cheeks, drenching her face in salty water. Only rain water wasn't salty, and it didn't sting as much as this. But the Queen was not going to admit she was crying, no. It was the stupid rain that was soaking her wet again because Jai's stupid plan hadn't worked out; the trees were as useless as the now drenched bread and cheese no one had taken mind on saving.

But no one was around to ask her. The whole pack was still asleep, even if there was a pile of mud forming around them and rain water falling into their open mouths and nostrils, no member of the group even flinched.

There was no one around, no one to enquire of why she was crying or to try and comfort her. So she gave herself away to the tears. The cracking sound of the falling branches of the trees and the piercing noise of thunder hid her sobs, and for once she was grateful for the storm.

"Are you okay?"

The sudden sound of an actual human being, not a bunch of cruel bastards from her nightmares, startled her. She dragged herself away from the stranger, struggling to get on her feet and tumbling down a few times due the heavy mud invading her big boots and the rest of her dirty clothes.

The stranger spoke again but was silenced by another uproar from the dark sky. The Lady ran, blinded by the darkness of the deep forest. She didn't know where she was going to, but the redhead had no control over her legs. She could end up in the hands of one of the Bolton's, she knew it. From what she'd seen in her father's maps, after she'd learn how to read properly at an early age, Hornvale was still close to Casterly Rock.

The traitors were travelling by horse when they relied on their tired feet only. They couldn't be very far away, waiting for the group to make a mistake and catch them right in the act. They would flay them all alive, they would torture her friends, they would rape and turn Sam and Jade to nothing more than common whores, they would make her marry Nathan Bolton and carry his children and the gods know what else.

She knew all this and more, but her body would not listen to any logical reason to stop running and instead just kept on going. Crashing into fallen tree branches, cutting her face and clothing here and there. She could taste her own blood in her mouth and one slip was all it took to send the Queen Regent crashing onto the mud, spraining her left foot in the process.

Her painful scream was muffled by the noisy storm, and the girl could do nothing else than to crawl underneath one of the trees she thought was the largest.

Rain still fell heavily and the unstoppable trembles caused by the freezing cold only made her injury hurt even more. When she moved backwards to rest against the trunk, a sharp pain on her right side made her scream out again, and this time the sound wasn't muted by the horrible weather.

Her hand flew to cover her side; right under her breast she felt a dense liquid that was surely not water. There was nothing she could not, at least not until there was some day light. The night was going to be long and full of terrors.

* * *

"James! James, get over here! Come see what I found!"

"This better not be other of your stupid pranks, Daniel, or I swear to all the gods I will put a sword through your eye and out the back of your skull"

"It is not a prank! Come!"

"That's what you said last time, asshole"

Cat recognized the voice of two males far away in the distance, still far enough for her to try and run away. But it wasn't enough. She couldn't even manage to open her eyes, no matter how much effort she put into it and how much her brain yelled her to do so.

"Oh, boy"

"See? I told you it wasn't a prank"

The heavy footsteps of the two men approaching resonated in Cat's ears, making her panic rise further and further. She felt their presence, crouching down to her level, one at her side and the other on front.

"Do you reckon she's dead?"

"I dunno. She seems to be breathing quite well"

"Do you reckon she's the missing Princess everyone's talking about?"

"How am I supposed to know? Why do I always have to think about everything?"

"Well, wake her up and ask her"

"That sounds a bit discourteous"

"When have you ever cared about being polite?"

"Well, what if she is in fact the missing Princess from the West? She'll have my head if I wake her up rudely"

"And what if she isn't anything more than just a common whore? Besides, we're men from the Brotherhood without Banners. We serve no King or Queen"

"Just because I don't serve her doesn't mean she won't have my head if she well damn pleases so"

"What the fuck do you want to do then?"

"Well," The one on the front pondered, "We can't wake her and we can't leave her here to get raped or killed. I propose we take with us back to our camp"

"James, I don't think Lord Ronnie will like that"

"Why not? If she is indeed the missing regal then we'll be the ones responsible for finding such a treasure. And if she is just a common whore then we'll make her our whore"

There were a couple of seconds of hesitation from the other man, but he finally agreed. Cat felt her bodyweight being lifted easily and placed on top of one of the boy's shoulders. The open wound on her right side tensed in agony, and the pain shot itself through her whole body, but still it wasn't enough to force a single movement out of her.

* * *

When the girl was finally able to open up her eyes, the sudden brightness of the many lit torches around blinded her for a few seconds. While trying to adjust her sight to the shiny light, she felt something soft underneath her body. Taken by surprise, she crawled backwards until her head hit what felt like a wooden headboard.

"Son of a bitch," Cat hissed, covering the painful area with both hands.

"So, you're finally awake"

A man was standing under what seemed to be a doorway, but was made out of stone. In fact, taking quick glances around the place, it was all made out of stone. She was definitely tucked in a featherbed, with covers and pillows around her. Her hand flew from the back of her head to her side, checking for the obvious, bloody wound she'd gotten the night before, only to find a closed wound which caused no pain whatsoever. Her foot, she noticed as well, didn't cause her any pain when she moved swiftly away from the stranger.

"We had Maester Frank close your wound. He has been giving you milk of the poppy for the last couple of days to keep you at rest and without pain. I'd say that one is healing pretty well so far"

"I...Who...Days?" Was all Cat managed to say.

"Aye, you have been here for around a week now, after James and Daniel found you in the woods. You were very lucky, if they hadn't done so the Bolton's would have captured you already...Caterina Valentine"

The redhead was shocked, but did her best to hide her anxiety building up inside her. "I'm afraid I do not know what you are talking about, my lord"

"Ah...you are not a very good liar, my lady," The man said, stepping into the room and claiming the only chair in the place, facing her bed, "You were wearing a ring, you see. A ring that could only belong to a royal. Besides, the inscription _Caterina Valentine_ right above the sigil of your house is something very revealing"

"You found a ring, my lord that does not mean I'm the lost Princess,"Cat answered calmly, "For all you know I could be just a commoner from Casterly Rock who flew after the land was taken, and was lucky enough to come upon the dead body of the Princess and stole the ring from her"

"But why would a commoner steal something from her own monarch? I heard the Princess was very loved by her people, charming and beautiful to say the least"

"Maybe I did not like her as much as the other folks, my lord"

"_My lord_," The man laughed, "Girl, _m'Lord_. Low born girls say _m'Lord_, not my Lord. If you're going to pose as a commoner, you should do it properly"

Cat shrugged, "My mother served Lady Maree, the Princess's grandmother, for many years, my Lord. She taught me how to speak proper... properly"

The Lord smiled at the redhead, "You're too smart for your own good. Has anyone told you that?"

"They have, my lord," Replied Cat, failing at trying to keep her proud smile off her face.

"Good...You know, my lady," He rose from her chair and approached the girl, who held her place defiantly, "I was wrong about you. You really are a good liar...or you would be. I would have believed every word you said if it weren't for a little inconvenience in your cunning little lie...We've got your friends"

* * *

The twins and Sam were locked inside an improvised cell in the deepest of the huge cavern they were in. Cat had not been allowed to visit them, but by the description given by Lord Ronnie, she was sure he was not bluffing; they really had managed to capture part of her group.

_This is my entire fault; we would be reaching Hornvale by now if it weren't for my cowardice and stupidity. A Queen frightened by thunder and nightmares, my mother would be so displeased. _

Since recognizing her title as the only living heir of Casterly Rock and Queen Regent of the North, the men from the Brotherhood without Banners had started treating her well. True, they might not serve any King nor Queen but they still held respect for any regal Lady. So she had nothing to complain about, most of them were good lads. She was allowed to keep dressing in manly clothing, since they reasoned it would be safer for her to do so. A beautiful girl wearing a dress in the middle of the woods, full of rapists and murderers, wasn't logical at all they figured.

So the girl marched around the place in long tunics and oversized breeches, hair picked up in a pony tail and face covered in dirt. Any commoner would never mistake her for a missing royal, not even the Bolton's would turn to look twice at her if it came to that.

She was not allowed to go outside, and two soldiers were hot on her heels most of the time. The confinement and guarding made her feel home again, in a weird way. Late at night, after having supper, the girl would grab a pointy stick out of the fire and start practicing all Beau had gotten to teach her back in Casterly Rock. The men who were still awake would pretend not to stare at her every movement, failing miserably. Cat didn't mind though, she was getting really good at the whole water-dancing thing, and was proud to show what she'd learnt. Only she still didn't have a real sword. The thin stick broke into pieces when she stuck the hard stone with it, leaving bloody splinters all over her hand.

"Fuck," Cat hissed, throwing the pieces of stick away furiously.

* * *

"Here, I made you this"

James was holding out a small object that happened to be a sword made just for her size, not like the heavy, big ones Sam and Beau used back in the Westerlands when trying to teach her how to fight, no. This one was perfect, too perfect. Cat didn't even dare to touch it.

"Go ahead, it's yours"

"Ser James...I, I really do not know what to say"

"You really don't have to say anything, my lady. Daniel and I knew you needed one so we made you this"

Cat's right eyebrow went up, a teasing smile drawing on her thin lips, "Were you two spying on me the other night?"

James's blush was impossible to hide, and the girl could do nothing more than to giggle adorably. She took the sword out of the boy's hands, caressing it delicately, admiring it cautiously, "It is perfect, James. Thank you, to the both of you"

"I am glad you like it, my lady. Daniel wasn't here in fear of you not liking it and asking for both of our heads immediately"

"I would never do that, Ser. I am not that type of Queen," Cat chastised him, "I am not a Bolton"

"I know, my lady. It was stupid of him to thought such atrocity of someone as lovely as yourself. I will make him apologize"

"There is no need to do so, Ser James. The apology has been already accepted," Cat said before taking a few steps away from the boy and moving the sword swiftly in the way Beau taught her to do so, "This is brilliant work, Ser! Where in the gods name did you learn to do such thing?"

James's blush was a bit darker then, but still visible, "Daniel and I have been friends since we were little, my lady. We both lived in Lannisport, even after our parents died. His uncle was a blacksmith, so he took us both in. We didn't have much, he was old and cranky, but he still taught us a lot. He even taught us how to fight properly. We're both very good swordsmen, my lady..."

"Well, Daniel's uncle should be very proud of you two. This is flawless work"

"Thank you, my lady"

"So," The girl continued, not stopping her water-dancing movements, "How did you two end up joining the Brotherhood?"

"Daniel's uncle died when we were ten-and-four, so we decided to leave Lannisport, or the Westernlands for that matter. We didn't know where we were going, to King's Landing I suppose, to try and become knights or something. But then the Brotherhood found us, and we've been with them ever since"

"You should've come to join my father's army, Ser James. I'm sure you two would have earned your knighthood without trouble"

"You are very kind, my lady. But we just wanted to get out of the West...I mean no offense by that, by the way, my lady"

"None taken, Ser"

"We grew up listening to wonderful tales about your beauty, my lady," Said James bravely, making Cat stop her water-dancing and pay mind to him, "I must say, they were not wrong about those assumptions"

Cat blushed, something she had not done since that night Sam called her _perfect_. She recovered quickly, just like the royal she had grown up to be, "You are so lovely, Ser James. I thank you for your sweet compliments"

"We-We grew up dreaming about becoming Lords, you know," James continued, not being able to keep his mouth closed now, "Lords or maybe some King's bastards so maybe we could have the honour to at least meet you some day. But then Daniel's uncle beat some sense into us about not living in fairy tales made for giggling maidens"

"Well, Ser James. But here you are now, with me, having a normal conversation," The girl said, placing the sword carefully on the bed and walking towards the boy, taking his hands into hers, "And besides, it is me who should be honoured to be in both of your presences. If it weren't for you I would be dead, or worse, in Nathan Bolton's hands. I will be forever thankful, Ser"

"There is nothing we wouldn't do for you, my lady," James whispered.

"You are most kind," Cat replied, rising on her toes to reach the boy and placed a sweet kiss on his left cheek, which left him dazed, "If I ever get to reach the North you and Ser Daniel are more than welcomed to stay. It would be my honour to present you two as Knights, members of the Kingsguard, even as Lords. Whatever you ask of me, Ser, will be yours"

The girl flashed him a sweet smile and then retreated, taking hold of the sword and starting the water-dancing all over again. James was still unmoving, and he stayed like that for a couple of minutes, watching her delicate movements sweep across the room, until he was finally able to blurt something out.

"My Queen!" The boy bellowed, falling to his knees abruptly. The action took Cat by surprise, making her stop her lessons once again. The Brotherhood didn't serve any King nor Queen, and if any member of the clandestine group heard him address himself to her in that way, he'd surely be left somewhere in the forest to die, or worse.

"Ser...Ser James, please rise," Cat said nervously, eying the door in hopes the guards outside her bedroom didn't enter to see what was going on with James's sudden outburst.

"My Queen...I said we would do anything for you and we shall keep our word," James looked up to see the anxious redhead looking down at him, "We know you are not allowed to do so, my Queen, but...Would you like to see your friends?"

* * *

It was right after supper when Cat excused herself to her room, shooing her guards away under the lie that she needed to take a bath. They didn't obey her, but they did listen to Lord Ronnie, who was their leader after all.

"You have fifteen minutes, my lady," He'd said.

_More than enough. _

James and Daniel were outside in the small smithy they'd built back when they joined the Brotherhood. When they saw the two men who use to guard the Queen step outside to breathe some fresh air, they made their way inside. Daniel stayed with the others, trying to distract them with a song he'd learned back in Lannisport when he was a little boy.

The fellow men were more than amused. He was one of the youngest ones, Daniel, but he sure knew how to entertain them.

_A BEAR THERE WAS, A BEAR, A BEAR!_

_ALL BLACK AND BROWN, AND COVERED WITH HAIR._

_THE BEAR! THE BEAR! _

Daniel sang, and James walked past the show without getting noticed, tiptoeing his way to the only decent room in the cavern.

_OH COME THEY SAID, OH COME TO THE FAIR!_

_THE FAIR? SAID HE, BUT I'M A BEAR!_

_ALL BLACK AND BROWN, AND COVERED WITH HAIR! _

There was a soft knock on the big wooden door, and Cat made her appearance almost immediately.

"Are you ready, your grace?"

"More than ready"

_AND DOWN THE ROAD FROM HERE TO THERE._

_FROM HERE! TO THERE!_

_THREE BOYS, A GOAT AND A DANCING BEAR!_

_THEY DANCED AND SPUN, ALL THE WAY TO THE FAIR! _

_THE FAIR! THE FAIR! _

The cavern was barely guarded, since they weren't really accustomed to having many prisoners around. It was just a hiding place for the Brotherhood. They had many more, but the cavern was their real home. A home full of brothers. Running down the stony stairs brought awful memories to Cat of her escape from the Golden Wedding, but she forced herself to keep going. She needed to see Sam.

_OH, SWEET SHE WAS, AND PURE AND FAIR!_

_THE MAID WITH HONEY IN HER HAIR!_

_HER HAIR! HER HAIR!_

_THE MAID WITH HONEY IN HER HAIR! _

Reaching the small room where the prisoners were being held, they came upon one soldier guarding the door. Or at least trying to, since he was obviously falling asleep against the stony cavern walls. James cleared his throat and approached the boy, who could be no more than ten-and-five.

"Hey, I'm your relief for the night. Go get some supper"

The boy did not have to be told twice. He handed James his spear and ran upstairs, not even noticing Cat barely hiding against a wall.

"Come on," James whispered.

_THE BEAR SMELLED THE SCENT ON THE SUMMER AIR._

_THE BEAR! THE BEAR!_

_ALL BLACK AND BROWN AND COVERED WITH HAIR! _

James opened the door, giving out just enough space for Cat to step into, and then closed it as soon as she was inside.

"It was about damn time, you haven't fed us the whole day!" She heard Jai's voice and tears almost spilled out of her eyes.

"Jai," She managed to said.

"Cat?" A soft voice behind her asked in disbelief, a soft voice that belonged to Sam.

_HE SMELLED THE SCENT ON THE SUMMER AIR!_

_HE SNIFFED AND ROARED AND SMELLED IT THERE!_

_HONEY ON THE SUMMER AIR!_

Cat lowered herself to Sam's level, who didn't look capable on standing on her feet.

"What happened to you?" The redhead asked worriedly, taking Sam's cheek into her palm softly.

The blonde leaned into her touch, and replied in a whisper, "Those assholes pierced my fucking calf with one of their arrows. I fucking hate archers"

"Hasn't Maester Frank come to see you? Haven't they closed the wound or at least bandaged it?" Cat asked, trying to examine Sam's injury with the dim light they were getting from James's torch outside.

"Who the fuck is Maester Frank? No! Of course not. They have not been anything but dickheads to us. Luke had to cut his shirt in half so I cut put something around it"

"Sam, seven hells, this shit could be getting infected as we speak"

"You have been becoming more outspoken since I last saw you. I'm proud I must say," Cat would have laughed at this if it hadn't been for Sam's hoarse voice when she spoke. Sam was ill, even if she didn't want to admit so.

_OH, I'M A MAID, AND I'M PURE AND FAIR!_

_I'LL NEVER DANCE WITH A HAIRY BEAR!_

_A BEAR! A BEAR!_

_I'LL NEVER DANCE WITH A HAIRY BEAR! _

"We must do something about this, Sam"

"Yeah...Tell me something I don't know. Have you seen this place? It's made out of rock; we can't escape from this bloody cell"

"I'll talk some sense into Lord Ronnie. James and Daniel will help us out, do not fret. You will get well soon"

"Who the hell are all those people? Have you been making friends around here? Cat, we do not know if we can trust this people"

"If they were bad people they would have handed me out to Nathan days ago"

"Maybe Nathan is on his own way to this place as we speak. Why bring you to them when they can come here for you?"

"They wouldn't do that. I trust them, Sam"

"Why would you trust people you don't even know that well?"

"Because they saved me when you didn't"

_THE BEAR, THE BEAR!_

_LIFTED HER HIGH INTO THE AIR!_

_THE BEAR! THE BEAR! _

"And how do you think I earned this fucking injury from? Playing swords with those two?" She pointed at the twins, who were trying to make a bed out of the bunch of hay that was around, "I was looking for you, we spent days looking for you. All because you decided to run away from me that night. Because you try so hard to be brave, to be fierce as a wolverine and all, because sometimes you can't just admit you are a scared little girl after all"

Cat gritted her teeth, nails digging into her flesh from the strong clench of her fists, "I am a Queen"

"Is this what you really wanted? When you told me you wanted to be like me, you wanted your freedom? Did you have in mind spending your days being held captive by a Brotherhood with no King, chased by a crazy sadist, far away from your lands that are yours by claim, never to see your family again?"

"Do you really that is what I fucking wanted?" She hissed.

"Well, you seem to be enjoying it. Not even once have I seen you weep for your dead relatives. I do not know what you were dreaming about that night you escaped, but for some reason I doubt it was about your family"

"Fuck you, Sam"

"Well, I'm glad this is ending like the last time we had a conversation"

_I CALLED FOR A KNIGHT, BUT YOU'RE A BEAR!_

_A BEAR, A BEAR!_

_ALL BLACK AND BROWN AND COVERED WITH HAIR. _

"I put my life at risk by coming down here to see you, to talk to you, to offer my help and this is how you respond?"

"Put your life at risk? Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we could trust this folks, I thought they were your friends now"

"They are, but I am under their ruling at the moment, which means friends or not, they still have the right to punish me if I disobey their orders," The girl breathed, getting impossibly closer to Sam, "Much like what will happen to you when we get back to the North. You keep talking to me that way, and I will remember"

"I hope you will. If you forget, be a good lass and remind me of repeating the same words to you again"

_SHE KICKED AND WAILED, THE MAID SO FAIR,_

_BUT HE LICKED THE HONEY FROM HER HAIR._

_HER HAIR! HER HAIR!_

_HE LICKED THE HONEY FROM HER HAIR! _

"I will still send Maester Frank to try and heal your stupid wound," Cat said, standing on her feet and walking to the door. She knocked softly on it and James opened the same small crack for her to fit into, "I will not come back to see you"

"Yes, you will," Sam replied cockily.

"If I ever have to see you again, it will not be at my own will"

"Yes, it will"

Cat turned around to face the blonde one last time, but instead of showing rage and disbelief, she looked amused by the ridiculous exchange of words. Sam looked delighted as well, now that her features were illuminated by the amount of light coming from the hall.

Cat laughed, and showed Sam her middle finger, "Burn in fucking hell, Samantha Puckett"

As she exited the small prison she heard Sam hooting inside. James took the girl carefully by the hand and guided her back upstairs, to her room where the guards would be back soon enough.

And even when they reached her room just in time, and she tucked herself into bed, the redhead could not stop smiling.

_THEN SHE SIGHED AND SQUEALED AND KICKED THE AIR! _

_MY BEAR! SHE SANG. MY BEAR SO FAIR!_

_AND OFF THEY WENT, FROM HERE TO THERE, _

_THE BEAR, THE BEAR, AND THE MAIDEN FAIR!_

* * *

**a/n**: So, this one went in a whole different direction from what I had planned at the beginning. Cat was going to be kidnapped right after she ran away but Sam was going to find her right the way and save her. They would be in Acorn Hall in a matter of days but...Hey, I wanted to be realistic. It would be a joke if they had reached Acorn Hall with no harm whatsoever, especially with Bolton's all around. So yeah. I like this change though. Cat is becoming darker and I like that.

This was the most fun chapter I have ever written for any S&C fanfiction ever. I am loving Cat's character and I'm also falling in love with lovely James. I know there wasn't much **Puckentine** in this one, since Sam spent her time locked up most of the chapter. But I promise there will be more **Puckentine** next chapter. Their relationship will be a complicated one, since they can't really acknowledge their feelings for each other entirely, and as you can see, they're always bickering...Which in all honesty makes it all even better.

I am still not sure which path the Brotherhood is going to take. Are they going to get her back to Winterfell or would they hand her to Bolton? They might not be as fair as Cat think they are, since they serve no King. All they care about is money, so what if **Nathan** is willing to pay a lot of gold if he discovers they have Cat? Much like what happened with Gendry Waters when they sold him to Melisandre in Game of Thrones (The show), who knows. Keep reading to find out, haha.

Please R/R, your reviews, follows and faves inspire me to write more since I know you guys are liking this as well.

By the way, the song Daniel sang is called: **The Bear and the Maiden Fair**, and it belongs to **George R.R Martin. **


	9. Season 2 - Episode 3

**Disclamer: **I don't own S&C

* * *

**Howl**

_By RaggedyMadMan_

Season 2 - Episode 3

* * *

The following morning Cat's smile was wiped out of her features and her mind was set on getting some help for her friends, whether that involved seeing Sam again or not. She'd told herself repeatedly not to ponder about the blonde knight, but as she sat down around the extinguished fire with the rest of the men eating breakfast, the girl's mind couldn't help but shift back to Sam's face the previous night.

Cat daydreamed about the blonde until Daniel shook her gently. Some of the men were failing miserably at suppressing their mocking smiles at the sight of her in such a dreamy state.

_They must think I am just a giggling, innocent maid who is dreaming about knights and songs,_ Cat mentally chastised herself and when Daniel asked her if she was okay the redhead's rage only allowed her to nod in response.

Among the mocking lads was no other than Lord Ronnie himself, and Cat hated herself more than ever.

Forcing her mind to finally stop thinking about the ill knight in the cellar, Cat focused her mind on what was going around her. James and Daniel were by her side, as if secretly guarding her from the others. The rest of the men, now oblivious to Cat's presence, were sharing funny stories about their days as young squires or simple commoners.

The redhead couldn't help but laugh at one story or two, as inappropriate as they were. Her friends from court would have been so outraged, but she was quite enjoying the dirty tales of the fellow soldiers. Her new guards, James and Daniel, didn't seem to mind that their future monarch was listening to such obscene stories, and for the first time in her life, Cat felt comfortable with those who kept her safe.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Mumbled Lord Ronnie, just loud enough for some men to hear but not to interrupt the funny exchange of words. Cat's attention shifted immediately from the soldiers gathered around her to their leader who was making his way back to his chamber.

"I'll be back in a moment," The redhead whispered to Daniel who had no time to even question her.

She followed Lord Ronnie silently far away from the group. The voices of the laughing men could not be heard any longer, and Cat did not try to muffle the sound of her steps behind the commander. Once they were near his chamber, the man decided to speak with a tone of amusement in his voice without turning back to face the girl, "And what can I do for you now, Lady Valentine"

"I was expecting to beseech an audience with you, Lord Ronnie"

"No audiences needed here, My Lady. You may speak your mind freely and I assure you no harm will come to you," The commander stepped into his chambers and Cat followed, not waiting for a courteous invitation. Any other high born commander would have requested her to leave, since a maiden alone with him in his chambers was nothing but dishonourable, but Lord Ronnie only discarded his heavy boots aside and threw his full body weight on a pile of hay,

"The only thing I will ask from you, my lady, is to please speak your mind quickly, since I am needing my daily nap"

Cat stared down at the man, confused, "But you just woke up a couple of minutes ago"

"Is that what you came here to talk about?"

"No, of course not," The redhead composed herself, "I am here to request something from you"

"I already told you we don't hold audiences"

Ignoring the Lord's joke, Cat continued, "I have come to learn that my travelling companions down in the cellar are not experiencing the best of health, momentarily"

"And how did you come to learn this valuable information, my lady?"

The girl shrugged coolly, "I overheard one of the guard's conversations outside my chambers yesterday night"

"Which guard?"

"I am afraid I am not sure of that, Lord Ronnie. You see, since there isn't really an organized way to do things here, the guards outside my chambers are constantly switching places and watches, and I have no way whatsoever to keep up with which soldier guarded my door and which one didn't"

Lord Ronnie's response was a frustrated grumble, but nothing else. The Queen took that as a chance to continue with her lie, "But that is not the point, Lord Ronnie. The point is, these people are of great value to me, sentimentally. And I would greatly appreciate if Maester Frank could assist them"

"And why does your sentimental value to these people serves as a reason to convince me, my lady? While I do regard you as a lady, you have no power to take me as your servant. What you feel is either right or wrong does not concern me. These people mean nothing to me"

"Then why are you holding them captive?"

"They were looking for you; they knew we held you as our…guest, if you may. They carry the Northerner sigil, one word to the Northerner army and the whole Kingdom would come looking for you. Including Prince Drew, your cousin in King's Landing"

Cat thought her words carefully, "Nonsense, my Lord. My cousin Drew does not even know I'm still alive. He has still not charged to battle against the traitors"

A frustrated Lord Ronnie sat straight, resigning to his idea of a good nap, "And how would you know that?"

The girl shrugged, "We would all know. You and your group of outlaws knew about the taking of my land just hours after it happened, crows carrying gory news fly faster... we would already know if my cousin marched against the Bolton's"

Lord Ronnie eyed the girl suspiciously, "You are definitely too smart for your own good, my lady. But still, all of what you just said sustains no reason for me to keep those three alive"

"Yes, it does," Cat informed him darkly, crouching down to his level, "You see, I was travelling with six companions, you got three of them. By now the other three must be almost reaching the North, two weeks or so is enough time for them to do so, especially if they were travelling by horse. And they are smart, I'm sure they managed to get horses. Even if you sent one crow to the nearest Brotherhood camp in the North, if there is one, you would not be on time.

"Once my pack reaches the North and informs my deceased husband's brother what happened there will be thousands of crows flying to King's Landing to inform my cousin, who holds one of the most powerful and largest armies in Westeros, that I am alive and held captive by the Brotherhood Without Banners,"

While Lord Ronnie's face remained unmoved and defiant, his stare betrayed him. Looking deep into his eyes Cat was able to identify what she'd seen back in the Golden Wedding, pure and unquestionable fear.

Cat was enjoying the view, and without trying to stop herself, the redhead smiled wickedly, "Those three are high borns. And not just any high borns, they are the sons and daughter of the Hand of the King and the Kingsguard. Do you have any idea of how mad will the North be once they find out you hold three agonizing pure blood successors? My cousins and the Northerners are allies, and we have plenty more around Westeros; I know you already knew that, my lord. After they're finished with the Bolton's, who do you think they're going to start chasing after?"

"Wake up ladies!" Daniel cheered, throwing the door of the cellar wide open and letting all the light in. The three prisoners flinched away from the torches, not used to such brightness. The young soldier grimaced at his actions, but before he could apologize, Jai jumped to his feet and took a hold of Daniel's throat, pushing him roughly against the wall.

"Luke, take his sword," The youngest twin commanded. His brother did as he was told and pressed the pointy end of the sword against Daniel's chest.

"Let us go, now"

"But…" Daniel tried to say, but the grasp in his throat only tightened.

"I said, now"

Suddenly, Jai was pulled back and thrown to the floor violently. Before Luke could respond, a thin and small sword was being held against his back threateningly. He dropped his immediately, and held his hands up in submission.

"What in the gods name are you two doing?" Cat asked angrily from behind's Luke's back.

"My lady?" Jai asked incredulously from the floor. James was now hovering over him, dagger in hand.

"Are you okay, sweet Daniel?"

"Yes," The shortest man breathed, "Yes, I am well, my lady"

"My lady, what are you doing? Why are you helping him?"

"Because he is here to help you," The redhead replied, beckoning the Maester to enter the cellar. Maester Frank was an old man, around the same age her Maester back in Casterly Rock was, she guessed. He was meek and had trouble with his right leg, she noted. Perhaps an injury he suffered while engaging in battle when he was young.

The man limped his way into the cell, bowing slightly in the presence of the high borns.

_He must have been raised by a Lord or a Lady;_ _he isn't an outlaw like the others._

"Where is Sam?" Cat questioned, shoving her sword back into the sheath that was hanging loosely from her hip.

Since James was still watching the youngest twin closely, Luke took upon him to indicate his Queen where the knight was, "She's been asleep since you left yesterday night," The boy said, pointing at the darkest place in the cellar were Sam had retreated, resting on top a pile of hay the brothers had arranged for her.

Panic took a hold of the young girl as she dashed towards a pale-looking Sam, "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"We did," Jai argued, "We spent the whole morning telling the guards that Sam had fainted but they didn't do anything"

Cat ignored his statements and turned to summon Maester Frank frantically. The old man walked as fast as he could towards the two girls, but to Cat it felt like hours went by until the Maester was by their side, disposing the poorly made bandage Luke had made for Sam's leg aside.

"My lady, my apologies," The Maester addressed her in a hoarse, tired voice, "But I need you to step aside for just a moment. I need to examine the lady properly"

"Whatever you must do you will do it in my presence, Maester"

"Where is Beau, my lady?" Jai asked, his voice drowning the yielding _yes, my lady_ response from the old man, "Where is my brother?"

"I am not sure," Cat replied truthfully, "But your brother is a bright man, Ser. And he and the others will hopefully be reaching the Red Fork by now"

_The Red Fork, not Wintefell like I told Lord Ronnie. _

"Why would they be reaching the Red Fork? They must still be around, looking for us"

"Ser," She sighed, frustrated for having to split her attention between the ministrations the Maester was providing to Sam and the worried brother, "As I told you, Ser Beau is a smart man. We both know he must go back to the North to warn Prince Zoran that we are still alive and well. They will come looking for us"

Luke chimed in, "It could take moons before they reach Winterfell"

"Then we better make sure to stay alive until they do"

The wound was starting to get infected, or so did Maester Frank said. If one more day had passed there would have been almost none possibilities for the woman-knight to survive. The precarious conditions in which they were living were the ones who carried most of the blame. That and the dirty bandage she'd been using since they got there.

Sam was suffering from a high fever and she'd not eaten in two days or even more. Somehow, they managed to make her drink a mixture of tea tree bark and smashed leaves, along with some milk of the poppy to ease whatever pain she could feel when she woke up. The Maester also dressed the injured area with a decent bandage that he would be changing every day, which was also coated with herbal remedies.

James left momentarily to go and fetch some food for the hungry prisoners. Lord Ronnie caught him doing so, but said nothing. Apples and water was the only thing the men had left over after breakfast, but it was nothing but a feast to the twins. They ate half a barrel full of apples, leaving the other half for Sam to enjoy.

"Can we move them to better accommodations?" Cat asked expectantly to James, but they both knew that was something that could not be done.

Unable to verbally deny something to his Queen, the boy only limited himself to shake his head.

"Well, even if they can't be in a better cell, please make sure they are treated better," She told the two boys, who nodded vigorously.

"We will, my lady"

Cat didn't show up to dinner that night, and even though some men offered to go and look for her, Lord Ronnie denied permission to them all. He knew where the Lady was, and the last thing he wanted was to mess with the girl, at least until he knew better.

James and Daniel had stayed outside the cellar, guarding the door and relieving every brother from their shift. After their apple feast the twins had been offered to take a quick bath, something they appreciatively accepted. Three minutes each, just enough time to rub some of the dirt off their bodies and get the stinky smell off, but even so they felt like freshly renewed men. They swaggered back to their cell as if they were about to enter an inn bull of pretty young maids.

Cat was resting her back against the hard, cold stone. After the Maester had left she'd sat right next to Sam, placing the blonde's head gently on her legs. She tried very hard not to stroke her hair, she really did, but as the hours passed and the twins went to sleep on their pile of hay, Cat had no other option but to relent to her own self.

The action flooded her mind with memories of their encounters back in Casterly Rock, not too long before the wedding took place. Back then, Cat hadn't know what do make of whatever she was feeling for the blonde, for her growing desire to be by her side at all times, even when she grew irritated by Sam's lack of tact with her.

But now, as the girl laid resting peacefully on legs, barely safe from death, Cat knew.

But whatever she recognized that night had no significance in the real world. She didn't love Sam, no. She couldn't allow herself to go as far as to love the _girl_. But she did permit whatever sense of strange affection towards Sam to flow freely on her insides, never to be voiced.

When she was just a child she remembered singing songs about brave kings who would shout her name as a battle cry and go back home to her, victorious. She knew the moment she saw Robert tripping over his own feet in the Great Hall that she would never had what she'd dreamed when she was a kid, but she no longer cared.

And when she met Samantha Puckett, she learned to care even less.

There was no window in the cellar, but the chill of the night travelled through the whole cavern and reached the prison. The twins snuggled closer to each other, even though they'd deny it afterwards. Cat ignored the coldness of the night and focused on the girl beneath her.

* * *

**a/n:** Do you know that feeling that comes when you know that what you just wrote is such garbage that you don't even want to proof-read it? Yeah, that's how I felt with this chapter. This was pretty much just a filler, the whole point of this chapter was to learn about Cat's plans and of her true feelings for Sam.

Next chapter will be better, I pinky promise. Matter of fact, I'm starting to work on it just now.

And yes, Cat's cousin, Prince Drew, is in fact Justin Bieber. But I was not going to name him Prince Justin, I mean, come on people, be realistic, haha. If you have any celebrity or fictional character that you want written in this story let me know and I'll see where or as what I can write him/her in.


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